- I’m sorry, I know a lot of you hate this format, but I like it. I think it’s great for putting forth… impressions on films you don’t always want to write detailed reviews about. Anyway, I’m bringing it back.
- I’m also bringing back comments about Premam from earlier threads, so it’s all nicely consolidated here. (See first comment below.)
- What can I say? I really liked it. Did it have to go on for nearly three hours? Probably not. But as with Bangalore Days, those three hours are so well-acted and pass by so beautifully, I didn’t really mind. It must be something in the water that makes Malayalam filmmakers such good storytellers – and more importantly, filmmakers. They draw us in and make us feel we want to spend more time with the people on screen. That sense of “hanging out” – these filmmakers capture that marvellously, with offhand moments like a plate of fried fish being carried by a waiter (the camera follows the plate) in a restaurant even as the conversation happens elsewhere.
- I cannot recall the last “regular” Tamil film that made me feel this. But then, we really don’t have too many directors. Anjali Menon (who made Bangalore Days) and Alphonse Putharen (Premam), on the other hand, are real directors. A lot of people I know dismissed Premam as “just another Autograph,” but that means you’re the kind of person who goes to a film just for the plot. Show me one scene… no, one shot from Autograph that announces this-director-has-it-in-his-DNA and I’ll eat my hat. I don’t actually wear hats, but you know what I mean.
- So it’s a very unremarkable stages-of-love story, which doesn’t matter. The “story” is the least important thing, usually, unless you’re making a Drishyam, which is all about plot.
- How brilliantly staged these films are – the editing choices; the cinematography that takes in the surroundings the way you’d register what’s around you from a corner of the eye, i.e. without making a hue-and-cry of a production about it; and the writing, which (even if I lost a lot of the casual humour, due to my dependence on subtitles) recognises that all of this is a giant cliché (there’s even an amnesia subplot) and labours mightily to make things seem… less clichéd.
- Take the scene where this other suitor (a comic figure) decides to sing Ennavale to the woman Nivin Pauly is in love with. He has a terrible voice, so you expect eggs, tomatoes, hoots, whistles – what you don’t expect is electrocution. Sometimes, in a mainstream movie, this is all one wants. Take us someplace familiar, and yet show us new sights.
- And no, as Pranesh says (see comment below), I don’t think the general trend is to “praise anything Malayalam.” I didn’t care for 100 Days of Love, for instance. It bored the hell out of me. But in the mainstream space, I find that Malayalam cinema – among the cinemas I get to see here – is the most cinematic. Premam maybe be lightweight, but at least it’s not just a script masquerading as a movie. It’s real cinema.
Copyright ©2015 Baradwaj Rangan. This article may not be reproduced in its entirety without permission. A link to this URL, instead, would be appreciated.
Posted in: Cinema: Malayalam, Cinema: Tamil
brangan
June 25, 2015
pranesh
Off topic: I saw Premam because someone praised it in this thread. It was a terrible, terrible movie, IMO. Malayalam directors seem to be getting praise for what Tamil directors did two decades ago. I wish you review it just to read what you think about the general trend to praise anything Malayalam.
venkatramanancs
Sorry to intrude into your activity, I was actually looking up for your review of PREMAM, but i think it has released without subtitles. Ever since i saw it almost a month ago, a lot has happened. The film is being appreciated like anything, industry big names are pouring their appreciation, meanwhile Alphonse Puthren wrote an open letter to Rohit Shetty on how to portray another Language (A Substantial Character of premam is in Tamil), all this while the film’s appreciation has reached a sort of frenzy, Tickets are still hard to get. It is projected to cross bangalore days and drishyam. I think while both BD and Drishyam are well made films, Premam is a well made + seriously Crowd Pleasing one. The film is definitely going into a “vera level” territory. If possible do not miss it in theatres, maybe put a review later with subs 🙂 Thank You BR.
supertramp
@brangan and @AmanSM Premam is playing with subs in Sathyam Cinemas(Escape, Luxe) says their website
aman malhotra
I have watched Oru Vadakkan Selfie as well and liked most of it, Premam started playing without subs and now they have added subs is what I heard. (Still not sure about it though)
aman malhotra
Is there a chance of you watching ‘Premam’ ?, heard it is now playing with English Subs in all the metros ( Not sure about it though). It is poised to become the biggest malayalam film ever and you reviewed Bangalore Days and Drishyam previously. You even reviewed Alphonse Puthren’s debut ‘Neram’. Dearly love to know your thoughts on this.
MANK
Yeah Brangan, do watch premam. if you thought that neram was brilliantly conceived and staged, just wait till you see this one. Alphonse putharen and the photographer has out did themselves especially scenes shot in natural light and real locations. brilliantly acted again by nivin Pauly.
venkatramanan
of all the venkat prabhu releasea in kerala, i can surely tell that this time…it will be really tough for massu. and at br, u should go and watch “premam” second film by alphonse puthren of neram. it will b one of the best films of this year, probably become highest grossing mal films. its a kind of film that you cant really call commercial, but still it has everything a commercial flick is and also craft wise too brilliant. i have never seen a film that balances both art and mass. too good. when it comes to chennai do watch it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Rahini David
June 25, 2015
“Anyway, I’m bringing it back.”
Good. Thanks. I love it.
LikeLike
Srihari N
June 25, 2015
Very true BR. I canot recollect any recent movie where the casting (all debutants except very few), editing (director himself), cinematography, sound design (this is no sync sound) et al gelled so well.. I got goosebumps in the initial cycle chase.. I could feel the heart beat racing.. killer cinematography.. The actors make it feel very real, camaraderie is real.. organic.. The recurring motif in butterflies.. The leading ladies are the ones you see, come across in your life (malar is already a sensation..) These all make the film a very personal experience that each one of us can relate to.. The success is no fluke.. This is the success for real cinema
LikeLike
Jeeva P
June 25, 2015
From what I could make out from your review, do you think Autograph is not a good movie ? Wasn’t it good that it was an involving personal movie (the kind cheran is so good at making) in Tamil after a long time? Wasn’t the story neatly narrated without ridding off its cliches with a strong sense of sincerity to its material in every frame?
LikeLike
MANK
June 25, 2015
Brangan, what did I tell you, this is real cinema. Who cares if the story is old as hills. you have to admire Alphonse’s guts and his talent. as somebody said, this is no synch sound, but I haven’t heard such extraordinary sound design recently – may be OK kanmani – that just sucks you into the atmosphere of the picture.
I am surprised you didn’t mention anything about the performances or the characterization of the hero and the 3 heroines. Man,all the 3 girls are making their debut, just what fabulous work they did – of course I am not ignoring putharen’s contribution – and the way the their characters are constructed. They are the chief driving force of the narrative. When was the last time you saw that in an Indian film
LikeLiked by 2 people
Bayta
June 25, 2015
So, is this playing with subtitles then? Also, what’s a reliable way to find out this information for other language films releasing in Chennai?
LikeLike
doctorhari
June 25, 2015
At the level of filming the scenes, cinematography and audio recording, the film was brilliant. But beyond that it was a big letdown for me. Nothing in any of the love stories connected with me. And there was even an air of cockiness in the overuse of closeups of frogs, fish etc. Really wondered coming out of the theatre on how this film garnered so much praise. And now a positive review from Baradwaj rangan. Hmm, I guess Alphonse Putharen’s ‘neram’ is too good. 🙂
LikeLike
aparna
June 25, 2015
“It must be something in the water”
IM(not so)HO, Malayalam movies are on the whole more realistic, more intelligent, have better acting and humor (unparalleled actually but the nuances of which are probably lost in translation) and are a little less misogynistic than other language Indian cinema. When youre used to them, it makes you a little impatient with the latter. Something in the water? Or is it just that every audience gets the movies it deserves? :p
Agree with Rahini about the format.
LikeLike
Rajesh
June 25, 2015
Premam is a well taken, crowd pleasing, entertainer, which has lots of cinema in it, or in other words, even a worst critic would agree that the movie at least pretends to have cinema in it.
(It still is far from the realistic show of the 80’s, but its fine as it only presents itself as an entertainer. The Malayalam entertainers of 80’s were brilliantly realistic)
However, it is impossible to give it the credit of originality. You are right in saying, Autograph doesnt have a single frame which could match Premam, but Autograph was made long back and at that time was very fresh too. Premam only have improved Autograph in many ways, in tune with the passage of time.
As a Malayaalee, I dont think at all Malayalam cinema makes the best entertainers. Having one good entertainer out of a 50 -75 releases is not a good sign for an industry who made lots of classics in the 80’s.
LikeLiked by 2 people
MANK
June 25, 2015
And no, one needn’t praise everything coming from Malayalam film industry. Like every film industry, Kerala makes more bad films than good. You just have to watch the latest mohanlal starrer. laila o laila to find that out. its horrible, horrible, horrible, a cheap version of bond films and kamal’s vishwaroopam and at a budget of about 20 crores, its one of the costliest films made. Thankfully, its gone belly up at the BO, while premam which was made for 5 crores has already made almost 30 crores in 3 weeks. More than that it has become a pop culture phenomenon that happens perhaps once in decade. hopefully, these 2 contrasting experiences would inspire the producers in backing more filmmakers like putharen
LikeLike
chroniclesofafalteredaccountant
June 25, 2015
Those “offhand” moments like you rightly mentioned are the ones which really have the maximum recall value. Also, the scene where they are drinking lemon soda and one guy asks for kasa kasa, and all others follow the suit.I also liked how the scenes end.The electrocution scene, the fiancee bashing scene. Also nivin’s body language. He carried that 18-30 years span so easily.
Thanks for the review, I kept checking if I had missed reading it.
LikeLiked by 2 people
venkat ramanan
June 25, 2015
Not to mention why would one go through all the trouble to make sure that one of the lead lady has a pimpled face through the film, all i can think of is to make a statement, beauty is not just about perfect face or looks.
LikeLike
Rajesh
June 25, 2015
@Venkat ramanan – I do not know if Malar’s casting was out to make a beauty statement. But whatever, for me, it looked like she was majorly casted for her dancing skills. The moment, she starts dancing to that tune, is absolutely brilliant. I cant think of any young heroine who could do that so well (sorry, I havent got the courage to see many new Malayalam movies) (But of course, since Autograph had a Malayaalee girl at this stage, Premam had to have a Tamil girl, but even in Tamil industry, I dont know any young heroine, who would have stealed the show in that dance rehearsal scene) Add to it her natural charm.
For me, a large part of the success of this movie goes to the character of Malar. She has simply charmed out every viewer. Even an old woman, my friend, who didnt like the movie at all, mentioned she would wait for the dvd release just to rewatch Malar scenes! My friend who pushed me to watch this movie, had also asked me to watch just for one heroine.
@Mank, thanks for saying the obvious about the state of Malayalam cinema.
Just have to disagree with the brilliance of N.P. Exactly the same kind of role in every cinema, isnt it, none of which requiring wonderful acting moments.
LikeLike
venkat ramanan
June 25, 2015
@Rajesh. NO i think you got it wrong, its not about malar’s casting, there are two things. One, there are visible intention from both director-cinematographer not to hide her pimples, which are quite visible. Secondly, they dont come in one or two scenes they remain consistent. Now this cannot be an accident (and i presume it as intentional), but even if it’s an accident like they casted Sai Pallavi and she had pimples during the schedule, easiest thing is to cover it up. Which is not the case. So clearly there should have been a decision to go with it, whether just to remain natural, realistic or to make a statement, anyway its a laudable and bold thing not many would think to do.
Secondly, About the Tamil angle and Autograph, i dont think Cheran has directed or written any malayalam movie, unlike Alphonse who has written a tamil “Neram”, and also Alphonse has started his career from Chennai. So it would be a natural thing to do and also not to mention the tamil song in the film. And IMO i dont think its fair to consider it as trying to match Autograph.
To add perspective here is what Karthick Subbaraj had to say about Premam (as seen in his offical fb post):
“PREMAM , a simple story told in a craziest and funniest way possible… Technically super brilliant and the performers are awesome…. Nivin Pauly was superb!! Anend C Chandran’s cinematography was way out of the box and Rajesh Murugesan ‘s thaaru Maaru kizhi was the biggest strength… Great job by Shabareesh Varma, Pradeep Palar,Vishnu Govind,Sree Sankar and the whole team….
Since I know him very well the “George David” in the film is none other than Alphonse Puthren… I felt “Premam” is a film about Alphonse made by Roney, who comes in the end 🙂 , Full crazy and trippy stuff!! especially the editing…..Great job and very happy for all u guys for this huge success…… Party eppo?? 🙂 “
LikeLike
MANK
June 25, 2015
Rajesh,yeah true, but nivin hasn’t done that many films
And from vadakkan selfie to premam, I could really see a growth as an actor. he handled the character transformation from one period to the next really well and with a nuanced and subtle internalised performance without resorting to any showy histrionics – which also provides a lot of space for the female characters to perform, a quality that many of the top line heroes lack. usually the heroes want to appropriate all the space for themselves. that’s a quality I like about him. also watch him in shyamaprasad’s ivide, that’s very different role for him.
LikeLike
KayKay
June 25, 2015
All hail the return of the bullet-point report!
“They draw us in and make us feel we want to spend more time with the people on screen”
You said it, B! That sense of being steeped in a specific milieu coupled with effortless performances, I only ever get this consistently in Malayalam movies.
I’ve probably seen a fraction of the Malayalam films MANK or Rajesh has seen and so can’t really comment on the overall quality or consistency of output, but the ones I’ve seen recently, usually at the recommendation of friends, have all touched my viewing sweet spots one way or the other.
Ustad Hotel, Indian Rupee (The great Thilagan delivering magnificent performances in his last few roles),
Neelakasham, Chuvanna Bhoomi, Pachakkadal & North 24 Kaatham (wonderfully atmospheric road movies),
Lal Jose’s double triumphs coming one after the other showcasing fascinatingly flawed heroes (Ayalum Nyanum Tammil & Diamond Necklace)
Where else but in a Malayalam film would you find peculiar speech cadences (in these examples, the lilting sing song Trichur Dialect) being as vital a part of the film’s texture as it’s script? (Pranjiettan & The Saint and Punyalan Agarbathis)
Even straight out Romantic Tales like Annayum Rasoolum and Thattathin Marayathu have shaded extra nuances into the narrative.
Drishyam was so well crafted that for the 1st time, ever, I’m NOT looking forward to an upcoming Kamal film.
And as predictable as Bangalore Day’s narrative was, the screenplay still managed to yield unexpected gems: The disappearance of a husband and father reveals the fissures in an otherwise seemingly normal marriage. But rather than mining this for dramatic heft (as a Tamil movie would have done), the movie chooses to hilariously showcase the liberation of of the estranged couple, freed from marital bonds and commitments; the woman embracing urban living with gusto, the man most likely getting high on a Goa beach. How can you not love a film that gets you as invested in its secondary characters as it does the leads?
LikeLiked by 4 people
KayKay
June 25, 2015
And as for the “Autograph” lovers here, let me say that it’s entertaining, but much of its appeal stems from riding on the crest of a “Wonder Years” style Nostalgia Wave and it’s directed competently enough that you can (just about) overlook Cheran’s narcissism in casting himself as the lead, in spite of possessing Zero Screen Charisma as a leading man and an extremely limited range as an actor. I dare you to not reach for the fast-forward button when he turns on the Water Works. And the movie’s frequent descent into Mawkishness is something most Malayalam movies I’ve watched manage to side-step around gracefully.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Gautham Jayan
June 25, 2015
Rangan, the bullet point report was good but, your trademark observations was missing. For Neram it was the tickling of clocks here its butterflies pollinating on the screen beginning with the title. The use of closeup of actors especially the infectious smiles of heroines. Also, the climax can be taken in another way, Puthren was so sad for our hero that he was going to fail for the third time he verbally abuses his fiancee for no reason so that engagement is called off. And our hero finally gets his girl. Though Puthren gets severely thrashed, this scene was so funny that hero says sorry at the end to the villian but doesn’t untie him.
It was one of the rare movies where you laugh your heart out at the theatre and goes home with many moments in your heart that you can relate and cherish.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Pranesh
June 25, 2015
Hmm. I don’t agree with your views about Premam, but at least we can agree that this format is awesome.
LikeLike
Ram Murali
June 25, 2015
@brangan – From having read your reviews, it is clear that you would rather have solid “treatment” over a strong story. Of course, I am sure you appreciate fare like “Kaaka Muttai” that have strong core themes (without being preachy) yet don’t lose sense of the “cinema” aspects. I completely respect your point of view.
On the other hand, I feel like I am at the other end of the spectrum. I would rather watch a film that has a strong script, depth and earnestness even if the “cinema” aspects are bare bones. I do agree with you on “Autograph” that there’s nothing to suggest a supreme command of the audio visual medium. (Of course, I don’t think you said that “Autograph” is a bad film.) But to me, movies like “Rhythm” and “Autograph” did a fabulous job of telling powerful stories with superbly delineated characters in a no-frills manner. They moved me, made me think and reflect on things such as sacrifice, filial responsibility and friendships without preaching to me.
The problem that I have with some filmmakers that focus too much on the script/dialogue aspects is that not only do they not display any cinematic finesse but they also just feel like cinema is a medium to just put forth their thoughts and the characters, their mouthpieces. Cheran himself has done this mistake a lot esp in ill-fated ventures like “Maaya Kannadi” and “Vetrikodi Kattu” but I think the bigger problems (than the preachy tendencies) were the lack of a good narrative and characters worth caring for. “Bharathi Kannama” “Porkaalam” and “Desiya Geetham” all had some message heavy, preachy scenes but those were part of such gripping narratives that I could overlook them and still appreciate the movies as a whole…
LikeLiked by 2 people
Supertramp
June 25, 2015
============================= SPOILERS==================================
• First things first, I like this format. But again don’t want this to happen more often.
• The criticism all the new Malayalam films faces is about the plot, but who watches a film for plot. In terms of cinematic quotient I think new age Malayalam films have grown leaps and bounds.
• ‘New generation films’ is the most abused word, and has been used in negative connotations as well of late. (Calling them new wave is a stretch).
• Funnily the criticism here in Kerala seems to be based on films writing (Not necessarily as a screenplay) lacking depth and generally is different ways to tell surface level nostalgia based themes. (Almost all the successful films are riding on the nostalgia wave.)
• ‘Premam’s ‘mood is what it separates from a film like Autograph, or Sarvakalasha (1987) (I think it borrows a bit from that film).
• I liked all the off handed touches than the main story arcs. There is something going on with the stubble (or the beard) in all the three stories. NP and his friend talks about George shaving for the first time and there by announcing his footsteps into the adolescence. And this is mirrored in the 3rd story. He probably got rid of the scrubby beard from the 2nd story that morning.
• By showing himself (Alphonse himself playing the abusive fiancée) snorting he probably was taking a dig at the news of new gen film makers and their alleged affinity for substance abuse. He probably took a dig at the government by getting beaten himself too.
• One more thing I liked about is how George lets the first girl be and even helps her and her bf. Stalking generally tends to have all kinds of consequences in Indian movies. Again calling it stalking in the strict sense is like denying the existence of a certain way of life; at least it was like how things were until the arrival of technology and the new age.
• Also I think it was a masterstroke (Don’t know whether it was by chance or designer) in terms of marketing not to have a trailer and give away any information about the character Malar. They added the songs to the jukebox and itunes all only when Malar became a craze.
• Having said all these criticism of NP stands. I would say he is improved leaps and bounds from his debut and has great comic timing. (This is his best performance by far), but criticism of his tendency to cost in same sort of roles is valid.
• Same criticism is valid for these films on how they cash in the nostalgia formula. 1983, Om Shanti Oshana, Thattathin Marayathu, Anjali Menon all did this. As I read somewhere portrayal of two different worlds ‘Gen X’ has been subjected to pre and post 00s makes them vulnerable to anything remotely nostalgic.
• Also looking forward to BR reviewing or at least ‘bullet pointing’ more Malayalam films in the near future.
LikeLike
Anand krishnajeevan
June 26, 2015
superb write up. Sir, whenever I see your post about a Malayalam movie I get super excited. But what is your take on the performances? You never mentioned much about the performances when you talk about Malayalam films be it Bangalore days or drishyam or premam. bangalore days had nothing to boast about performances but I felt drishyam and premam were backed by the strong performance of the lead actors.
LikeLike
Ranjit Nair
June 26, 2015
Premam, I though, was much, much superior to Autograph. There are plot similarities alright; but presentation-wise and cinematically there is just no comparison. Keeping the melodrama apart, even the whole Kerala segment in Autograph had me cringing (especially the language) – how difficult is to get a Malayali consultant, for chrissakes. I loved that about Premam – Malar’s nativity is brought out so naturally…the smallest of expressions indicate that Malar is Tamilian (for e.g. the way she reacts as George corrects her “shirt” to “kurta”.
Although there were a few segments that left me unimpressed, I have to admit that the “Java is robust” segment rocked. With all apologies to any teachers out here, that was just spot-on :).
LikeLike
Vanya
June 26, 2015
@KayKay – I agree with a lot of the movies you listed, but as excited as I am by the new wave of mallu films, there’s something missing or off in most. Usually, it’s pacing. Some of these feel interminable. Glad to hear premam doesn’t fall in that category. And am I the only person who turned Drishyam off 30 minutes in? As my sister put it, the director seemed to rely entirely on the Kuleshov effect to create some semblance of emotion in Mohanlal’s face. I’m worried that if I continue to watch his new films, I’ll no longer feel the same way about thoovanathumbikal.
Baradwaj, I’d love to hear your thoughts on Akam, Om shanti oshana, and many more. (Before the rocks come my way, yes I realize how flawed these are but I felt there were some very interesting aspects to them as well.) Might I recommend a site that rhymes with finethusan for versions with subtitles? 🙂
LikeLike
prakash
June 26, 2015
Thats unfair on cheran kaykay. Suriya was to act in autograph. He withdrew. As no other actor wanted that role cheran did that. I liked him. We saw a character not a star. Would have spoilt the film.
LikeLike
Srihari N
June 26, 2015
Venkatramanan/Rajesh,
To add to the point, I know for the fact that Malar was cast just as she is.. I read that even Malar had reservations about her appearance and voice but Alphonse was pretty insistent that she is best fit for her character and will walk away with the laurels.. How true..
This is also a testimony to the team work behind the scenes.. An interesting tidbit I read that almost all of actors were a group of youngsters who dreamt about films together in Gopu’s cool bar in Aluva during their school/college days (Alphonse, Nivin, Shabareesh -Shambu, Krishna shankar-Koya, Sijo wilson- Jojo, Anand C Chandran- DOP, Jude- Dolly Dcruz).. and ventured to make a mark as directors, actors, lyricists, singers, DOPs and what not…. You see the tea shop courtesy in the film as well with the same name..
This reminds me of a similar story way back 35 years back when MohanLal, Priyadarshan n folks entered the industry through the coffee shop interactions.. Pretty interesting..
LikeLiked by 1 person
venkatesh
June 26, 2015
KayKay : Your points on Autograph and Cheran are well made and wrong.
Cheran spent almost a year scouting for someone else to star in that movie. A lot of stars were tried out and either walked away or chickened out in the middle. He starred in Autograph not because he wanted to but because he had to.
Source: Cheran and almost anyone else who is peripherally related to the film industry. This was an open secret.
LikeLike
apala
June 26, 2015
Neram was pretty good and very entertaining…………..hopefully will catch this one soon.
Bullet Point Report – Welcome back! Good to see you…………
LikeLike
Prasad
June 26, 2015
“I cannot recall the last “regular” Tamil film that made me feel this. But then, we really don’t have too many directors. “They draw us in and make us feel we want to spend more time with the people on screen. ”
Can’t agree more. But have another question. But how do you rate Bengali Cinema compared to Malayalam Industry? Definitely Bengali film industry maturity supposed to be higher due to the strong foundation built by Masters like Ray and Mrinal Sen.
Talking about People here saw some movies which is focussed just on People and their behaviour put into situations. Amazed by these movies and the story telling aspect. Some of you might have seen it but nevetherless my recommendations are below.
Wild Tales
We talk about Black comedy, daryly funnly vjust like that but this film is just embedded with those elements. Was surpises how come this movie didn’t get oscar compared to Ida Last year! Last 20 mins is a SCREAM!
Locke
We complain movies lack drama /conflict to makie it interesting most of the time. Amazing movie from britain. Just one Character on Screen driving the car throughout the movie and the drama pulls you in! Tom Hardy is amazing.
Coherence
Every second movie is science fiction nowadays . This is a low budget movie which has a gripping premise and a brain teaser all the way! Astounding study of People behaviour when out into situations
LikeLiked by 1 person
Anuja Chandramouli
June 26, 2015
BR: This format is pretty nice so no complaints from me.
KayKay: I loved Drishyam and was dreading the Tamil version fearing that it just might be an unmitigated horror show compared to the original. But then I saw the promos for the Hindi version… For some unfathomable reason the Bollywood bigwigs in all their wisdom have cast Shriya Saran in Meena’s role. To the best of my knowledge, she can certainly shake that shapely booty but cannot act if her life depended on it. Kamal Haasan cannot do worse than that even if he tried.
LikeLiked by 1 person
vijay
June 26, 2015
I caught Thavamaai thavamirundhu again, the last 40 mins or so, recently on TV and despite the stupid scene right at the end where the kids are reading their grandpa’s story loudly, the preceding scenes still worked. Cheran found his voice with Autograph but couldn’t sustain it for long. His 90s films weren’t directed well.
But when his films later on worked it was because of the slice-of-life moments that he strews about in his films(take that scene where his mother played by Saranya, a village housemaker, complains about commode usage in urban homes and how everything is built within the house unlike the village homes and Cheran patiently shows her how to flush. That scene would have elicited a lot of understanding smiles and it is played quite low-key),the strong performances he extracts out of his characters and the ladies whom he chooses to cast in his films who are generally competent(you wouldn’t find a Tamannah or Hansika in his films). Unfortunately he seems entirely lost of late.
LikeLike
bart
June 27, 2015
The corporate (business-like?!) style is as welcome as long it says what it intends 🙂
The movie was good but just ran a bit too long. The narration was good enough to keep me hooked for 2hr 15 mins or so. Then felt it is going on & on..
Matran Thottathu Malligai – we discover mallu heroines and place them in galaxies; & atlast alphonse puthran found a tamil heroine and made a neighbouring state go bonkers. Sweet revenge! Habbada….
Music and Visuals added a lot to the movie. Can’t remember a poetic, sugar-coated narration throughout the movie in the recent past (like Idhayathai Thirudathey)
As an entertainer this stands better than Bangalore days or even Drishyam for me
The hailed new-age mallu movies are all good while it lasts. But I doubt whether they will stand the test of time like Kireedom, Bharatham, Amaram etc. Waiting for a consitent new-age Padmarajan/Bharathan/Sibi Malayil (past)/ Priyadharshan (past)/ Sreenivasan (past) to give any strong hopes (Lal jose seems to be getting there).
There has been a bit of deriding of tamil movies in a few comments above. To me, “Kaaka Muttai” is still the king. Hope remains on finding more such easter eggs… (Aadukalam, Aaranya Kandam, Pisasu, Pizza, Soodhu Kavvum / Moodar Koodam, Jigarthanda, VIP/ Ko/ Pandiya Nadu, Mozhi, NKPK all point to the diverse talents available in tamil too)
Irrespective of language, good movies are all we want. More “Premam” across please 🙂
LikeLike
brangan
June 27, 2015
Jeeva P: do you think Autograph is not a good movie?
Not at all. At a basic level, Autograph works… somewhat. I’m not a big fan about the film. It works in parts. I prefer Thavamai on the whole.
But increasingly, I am pondering this question: How long do we keep excusing filmmakers for the lack of “cinema” in their films? I haven’t settled on an answer yet, but I keep wondering…
At one time, during the P Bhimsingh days of the “pa” series of films, all we cared about was the story. But we seem to be doing that even today, and sometimes I wonder if “craft” will ever figure into the discussion of what makes a good movie.
Bayta: Yes, this is playing with subs in Chennai. If you go to the Sathyam Cinemas site, they tell you which movies are playing with subs.
chroniclesofafalteredaccountant: That kasa kasa scene was staged so well, no? The timing was smashing.
venkatesh: Cheran starred in Autograph not because he wanted to but because he had to.
That may well be the case, but as an audience we should not take into account the travails of the filmmaker. If the actor isn’t good, then the viewer has the right to point this out.
bart: Aadukalam, Aaranya Kandam, Pisasu, Pizza, Soodhu Kavvum / Moodar Koodam, Jigarthanda, VIP/ Ko/ Pandiya Nadu, Mozhi, NKPK all point to the diverse talents available in tamil too
I agree with a lot of your choices. But Ko? Mozhi? What saar! 😀
LikeLike
Rajesh
June 27, 2015
@KayKay – Sir you have put in your points very well and listed out those Malayalam movies to support it. Please do note though, that list pretty much sums up any kind of average or good movies Malayalam got in the past 5/6 years. (And I consider couple of movies in that list as very bad too, anyways, I respect your view point)
Please, consider making a similar list of Tamil movies, and unless you are biased like Mr. Rangan, your list would be at least 3 or 4 times bigger than that (without even considering the Vijay/Surya/Ajith/Kamal stuffs). The uniqueness of that list would be that, many in that list would be made by small time directors and cast. If you dare to add those small Tamil movies, which only had the most indigenious kind of heroes and actors and Plots – no one having the typical Indian hero/villain features – for eg. Azhagarsaamiyin kuthirai or Potta Potti etc – actors about whom Mr. Rangan or most Shining Indians wont care about (can you ever imagine a Malayalam mainstream movie making a similar casting these days) as they are quite outside the features of mainstream Indian audience look forwards to, and indigenous plots too – then the list of Tamil movies in the last 5/6 years would be at least 6/7 times higher than Malayalam. And unlike in Malayalam, many of these small Tamil movies (except for a few like Aranyakandam etc) did manage some money in box office. In Kerala, most Malayaaless havent yet seen Manjaadikkuru or Jnan Steve Lopez or even Annayum Rasoolum.
(Present Malayalam cinema can never even think about indigenous cinema like Mundaasupetti / Pannaiyaarum Padmini / Azhagar / Kaakka Muttai… etc. Please, dont bring up the steal show of Amen )
I dont have anything against Malayalam to say this, in fact I was a die hard fan of our industry till some time in the 90’s and used to look down at Tamil cinema like most Keralites. We climbed down, and Tamil up. This is true and sometimes Keralites dont like that.
@Prasad – Wild Tales was eff*******ng BRILLIANT. Locke was too. I hope you watched Starred UP. May be the best in last year.
LikeLike
Pranesh
June 27, 2015
@brangan: Kaykay said “…overlook Cheran’s narcissism in casting himself as the lead,…”, I guess that’s what people are replying to when they defend Cheran.
I don’t know how Ko got such a fan base. It was hyped up at release, and I hear that it’s getting a sequel with Bobby Simha in the lead. I still get nightmares about the songs in that movie (the visuals were stunning though).
LikeLiked by 1 person
Manikandan V
June 27, 2015
We have closeups of variety of snacks available in neighborhood shops to move to College Canteen with variety of things to Cakes and bakes – it is real nice way to get feel of a scene / Locale – Camera work is first class poetic lullaby throughout
LikeLike
brangan
June 27, 2015
Rajesh: Every once in a while, the blog gods smile upon us and send down someone utterly unbiased, someone whose response to movies is the only possible response.
For a while now, we benighted sheep haven’t had a shepherd to show us the way. (Long-timers may remember the name of the person who selflessly devoted himself to this flock earlier.) But I’m glad you’re here now.
I’d like to write more, but you’ll have to excuse me. I need to go rest my eyes now. The light from that halo is blinding my cornea.
LikeLiked by 6 people
venkat ramanan
June 28, 2015
@Rajesh you know its kinda contradictory when you literally say “I havent got the courage to see many new Malayalam movies”, and then go on to comment about the present state of malayalam cinema.//
LikeLiked by 1 person
MANK
June 28, 2015
Rajesh, I understand your intentions are honorable – which I believe is to shine a light on good cinema – but this is is too excessive brother and to allege motives on everyone including our esteemed blog critic for ignoring or tarnishing good cinema is something a well educated man like you should never do. you have every right to believe that films you listed are the best in the country, but to say that those who do not agree with you are disagreeing because they have prejudices and not due their own individual artistic taste, smacks of your own prejudices.
LikeLiked by 2 people
aparna
June 28, 2015
It was perhaps wrong of me to be critical of non Malayalam Indian movies, not having seen any but the most famous ones. Certainly Kaakka Muttai was the most moving movie Ive seen in recent years and I would perhaps have dismissed it as a children’s movie and not seen it, but for the opening lines of its review in this blog. Many more on my Tamil to-see list now (thanks to this thread)
Off-topic, I was listening to Pachai Nirame today and it struck me how the opening lines “Kaadhalil Niramundu” could be applied to the rainbow “Celebrate Pride” campaign
LikeLike
WhyShouldThisBeNeeded?
June 28, 2015
Hey, this is the 1st bullet-point report i’m reading & i like it! Also bcos i like writing in bullet points. The other reviews are more about showcasing the calibre of the writer than about the movie.
BTW, not all malayalam films are good. Just that the good ones are really good 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yossarian
June 28, 2015
@Rajesh – if you actually read BR’s reviews fully (on this one and his review of Bangalore days) without your selective cherry-picking, you can see the point he is trying to make. No one (including BR) is denying the quality of the “indigenous” Tamil movies that you mention, but the emphasis here and earlier is on mainstream cinema and the director’s craft.
@BR Sir, equating Rajesh to THAT person is a bit much no? Methinks Rajesh is still venting his frustrations on Uttama Villain and your review of the movie 🙂
Changing topics – would you be reviewing or writing about Pixar’s Inside Out?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Vanya
June 28, 2015
BR, I agree completely with your sentiment, but don’t you think the delivery of the message was a little too harsh?
And +1 for a review of Inside Out.
LikeLiked by 1 person
venkatesh
June 28, 2015
BR: “That may well be the case, but as an audience we should not take into account the travails of the filmmaker. If the actor isn’t good, then the viewer has the right to point this out.”
Absolutely, no quibble with that.
I was responding to KayKay’s comment on Cheran’s narcissism. It wasn’t Cheran’s narcissism that led him to cast himself in Autograph , he didn’t have an option. That was my point.
LikeLike
Jeeva P
June 28, 2015
Thavamai is my favourite film too. But when you look at Malayalam movies too, there aren’t many ‘film makers’ as such. Barring Anjali Menon and this Putharen(saw only Neram which was okay), there are only okayish film makers. Roshan Andrews, Lal Jose, Anwar Rasheed, etc all rely upon a heavy plot and they shall fail if the storywriter is not peaking. Take the example of Ayaalum Njaanum, which was a wonderful story as such, did not impact as much as it should have. It is supposed to be one of the finest recent Malayalam movies made but had it been directed by Mani Ratnam or someone with better craft, it would have been a milestone. Also the screenwriting was also not outstanding in the movie. Same is with many Fahad movies like Diamond Necklace. Probably Premam and Bangalore Days are exceptions.
LikeLiked by 1 person
KayKay
June 28, 2015
prakash/venkatesh: Thanks for that clarification. Ok, I did NOT know that and so will take back that comment on his narcissism, although it doesn’t change my opinion of him as an actor one bit. Said opinion being of course that he is NO actor at all.
Some here have mentioned that they enjoyed Thavamai Thavamirundhu more. So did I. The descent into mawkish sentimentality just suited its themes far better than Autograph, which would have greatly benefited from the sort of understated drama Malayalam movies are so good at (or, if you want an apple to apple comparison, something that Rhythm pulled off so effectively). I guess my honest assessment of Autograph would be, I liked two thirds of it, the teenage crush episode and the Kerala Romance. But the Sneha portions just derailed it big time. It’s been many years since I watched it so I may be a little hazy on the details, but did this movie not have an uber ridiculous plot point involving a woman who locks her DEAD mother in the flat to go to work just because she didn’t want to let a friend down???
Anuja: Shriya????? Talk about wanting to see the Bollywood version now…for all the wrong reasons 🙂
+
LikeLike
MANK
June 28, 2015
Yossarian, you are right, its too harsh to compare rajesh to THAT person – who was a troll of the highest order and whose primary aim was to bait Brangan and everybody else in to a fight. but rajesh’s case is a little different. he is not a troll by any means and much of what he say is true. Unfortunately he seem to be blinded too much by the nostalgia for an earlier period say the 80s and 90s when Malayalam films were at its zenith, that he simply cannot appreciate even the good films that are coming out today.
Moreover he seems to have a prejudiced view about mainstream critics including brangan that they ignore or downgrade the indigenous films because they are cast and represent a lower class- read caste- of people. While giving an easy pass to films made by the more elitist filmmakers and bigger stars- I remember him making remarks about black skinned actors not winning any awards and some such – and he is pretty obsessed about this. hence his continuing rant against UV. I don’t know whether he has any first hand experience of any of this-but keeps repeating this ad nauseum – he is very consistent about this I must say.
LikeLiked by 2 people
KayKay
June 28, 2015
Rajesh, a response to you deserves a post all of its own.
See, as I mentioned, my frame of reference where Malayalam movies (and for that matter Tamil and Hindi too) is really narrow, as I simply don’t see enough of them to differentiate a genuine work of vision as opposed to a perfectly pleasant but over-hyped effort.
So, biased or not, I wouldn’t be able to draw up a list of Tamil movies comprehensive enough to echo your views that quality wise, Tamil movies are currently perched on the upwards slope while Malayalam movies are taking a slide down. Because I watch very few of them, and almost always upon recommendations from friends (apart from Kamal and Mani movies which I actively seek out and Shankar’s films which are a guilty pleasure).
And frankly speaking, how can bias NOT come into play when it comes to seeking out movies you want to watch? You gravitate towards a certain type of film because they are made to cater to your very personal preferences in how it’s edited, scored, shot, acted, written.
So, I KNOW I gravitate towards Hollywood movies more, because as someone biased towards the Action genre, I simply feel they’re a decade ahead of Indian movies in terms of the Technical Know How to produce compulsively entertaining spectacle. As B has said, it may be shit, but their shit is so much more watchable.
I KNOW that I am biased towards drama that’s understated and so tend to gravitate towards Malayalam movies, where I feel the acting flows so naturally and organically from the script, NOT the “Look Ma, I’m emoting and I’m gonna be LOUD about it ” school a lot of Tamil movies specialize in. I also KNOW that the 3 Tamil movies I absolutely loved recently (Aranya Kaandam, Soodhu Kavvum and Jigarthanda) all had the former qualities.
I KNOW I’m biased against the pervasive Star Culture in Tamil movies that stifles any creativity on the part of the actor and feel (a bias again) that this isn’t a major impediment in Malayalam movies.
Mohanlal, a certified and decades established star in Malayalam, had no qualms to play a role where he pretty much spends the second half of the movie getting the living shit thrashed out of him by a sadistic policeman (with no climactic Payback fight, to boot). Kamal aside, I KNOW I’m not going to see an established actor do that in Tamil.
Mamooty,that OTHER decades established star, played a role in Munnaryippu (not revealing for fear of spoilers) I KNOW I can’t expect to see a star of similar stature do in Tamil.
Jeyaram played a scared parent whose stifling over protectiveness and paranoia alienate him from his daughter. I KNOW I’m not seeing that from an established star in Tamil movies anytime soon.
Dare I presume, based on your posts, both here and elsewhere, you have a certain “bias” towards movies of a certain era (the Priyadarsha, Sibi Malayil, Siddique Lal period maybe?) and long for their unique perspectives which you feel today’s Malayalam movies don’t give you. What it is, I can’t say exactly (rawness? honesty?) which you feel the current crop of Tamil movies do?
What I’m getting at is, we’re all biased, one way or another, and no list we make is going to be objective, they’ll be cherry-picked samples to justify our own preferences….kinda like my examples above 🙂
LikeLiked by 3 people
bart
June 28, 2015
Saar, I have no qualms on Mozhi – nice, feel good, sugar-coated, sentimental drama. Liked Payanam and Azhagiya theeye from Radhamohan as well. Relief from aruva(la) nambi films sometimes.
Ko was a one-twist pony, I agree. But as mentioned earlier in some other place, I like the thriller-action genre masala from KV Anand ( Ayan would’ve been better; even Kana Kandaen was fine). Hence that movie. Overall a representation of multi-genre decent movies in tamil.
Now that the shepherd is being guided, let me be a sheep.. Mehhhh 😄
LikeLike
Yossarian
June 28, 2015
@MANK, agree with what you said, but I was just a bit surprised by BR’s reaction, thats all.
I’ve been reading his blog since the desipundit days, and none of those commenters started out as trolls. Apart from BR’s writing, there was (and still is) so much good discussion and analysis in the comments space to enhance one’s knowledge of movies and music. Some of those discussions between Raj, BR, vijay and a few others on Raja’s songs and music was so much fun and informative (and also went way over my head at that time). As for RR, there was a time when BR asked him to never stop commenting in his blog (look up his 180 movie review if you dont believe me :)). But eventually some innocuous line(s) in a review triggers a knee-jerk reaction and it all goes downhill from there as their own bias on BR’s views get reinforced and they never look at the subsequent writings in the same way.
But hey, I am not complaining – for every commenter who descends into trolling, there are 10 new ones that pop up to enhance this space every year (including you, your “BR paiyyan” tag notwithstanding :)), so I (and I am sure i can speak on behalf of a lot of others) will continue visiting this blog no matter what.
@KayKay Sir, very well stated!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Shankar
June 29, 2015
Coming to Cheran, it is the success of Solla Marandha Kadhai that probably made him think that he could be a mainstream actor. Thangar Bachan cast him in a role that suited his limited acting abilities since the story and other characters, Pyramid Natarajan especially, made it up successfully.
With regards to Malayalam cinema, it is certainly at an interesting stage. While the temptation for a long time fan like me is to compare the new films with the 80s ones such as Thaniyavarthanam, Kanamarayathu, Chidambaram etc., and wonder what the big deal is, it is important to note that film industries go through ebbs and flows. This may have to do with people such as directors and stars and also changing audiences. So I can say that what seemed like a low point in the 90s seems to be on an upswing now. It’s futile to compare across decades and more apt to be content that interesting films are again getting made. Fortunately, over the years, the good Malayalam movies always have never felt the need to bow excessively to commercial pressures instead focusing on whatever is needed to deliver a good film.
LikeLike
Rajesh
June 29, 2015
This is excellent. Its after long time, after the football season, I have started coming back to this pages, and the reactions I have got is equivalent to what a troll gets in a football blog.
First of all, I must say I didnt intend to insult anyone, even if its Mr. Rangan, may be its because of my lack of putting my thoughts in good English like all fellow commenters here. But I think I have the right to say that Mr. Rangan is biased.
@Kay Kay – I never intended to say you are biased. It was only meant for Mr. Rangan. Again, could be my English. I was just surprised by you listing all the prominent average or above average ones in recent Malayalam history and claiming for its superiority.
You have again rightly pointed about the good intentions of Lal/Mammootty/Jayaram. I am more interested by how Tamil cinema makes even superior outcomes using the less prominent actors. Also sorry, Priyadarshan / Siddique Lal/ Sibi Malayil are not among my favourites (few of the early comedies of Priyan are of course – for eg Poochakkoru Mukkuthi; and Sibi was a good director only when he got an incredible script , say from Lohi). But its true, I am nostalgic about those 80’s, and disappointed about the state of present.
@BRangan – Excellent comment Sir. I wish I had even one % capability in writing as your good self. I could have replied you.
Sorry, I could not leave this site without saying this. If only you had experienced some kind of poverty in your life, your view point to many of the Indian films here would be different.
All the best.
LikeLike
Rahini David
June 29, 2015
Rajesh: you have been putting your own English down whenever someone disagrees with you. I have said this before and I will say it again. Your English is fine. I swear.
You say you did not intend to insult BR. But you did so again. And no, it is not because your English misfired. If you are so sure your grasp of English is so poor that you cannot make yourself clearly understood, then isn’t it perfectly possible that you don’t fully understand BR’s complicated English sentences?
For one thing you seem to have misunderstood what KayKay is getting at. But it seems to be because you read the posts and comment too fast and with a few inbuilt assumptions. I am sorry if what I said sounds insulting. It wasn’t meant that way.
LikeLike
Rm
June 29, 2015
Dear Mr.BR, on an offtopic, would love to read your views about popular TV shows doing the rounds. I watch a selective few and i realise there is no love lost yet for ‘Friends’, the BBT despite its effervescent comedy is not free from stereotypes, the ‘Sherlock’ is thoroughly enjoyable with its masala moments and the ‘Game of thrones’ for all its hype is predominantly just gore and porn (just started watching and my judgement may be totally premature).
But would love to know your take on these..
LikeLiked by 1 person
brangan
June 29, 2015
Yossarian / Vanya: Saw Inside Out. Loved it.
Only flaws — the journey (of Sadness and Joy) was too much like other Pixar journeys, and some of the episodes (like the Abstract Tunnel), though nice as a concept, did not work for me on screen. But overall, what a beautiful film — and a welcome return to form for Pixar, who had become quite formulaic of late.
The way complex cognitive processes are broken down into a simple, witty, charming narrative is just magical — Nolan should take lessons from these guys. I cannot overstate how extraordinary some parts are — like the part (between Sadness and Bing Bong) where we understand that sadness is an important part of life, that joy isn’t everything (and can sometimes be quite annoying).
So, so inventive — eg. dreams as “cinema” from a dream factory. And a typically Pixarian mix of laughs and tears. I laughed at the “memory consoles” of Mom, Dad, and even cats and dogs. I wept when Bing Bong “died”.
Truly, I was a little scared about the raves when I went in — no film ever lives up to that kind of advance notice. but this one did.
LikeLiked by 5 people
Rahini David
June 30, 2015
BR: Sellathu sellathu. Write a full review for Inside out. 😀
LikeLiked by 3 people
MANK
June 30, 2015
Nolan should take lessons from these guys
Brangan, I don’t think any kind of lesson is going to help Nolan. you should have a genuine talent and cinematic instinct for the kind of fun stuff that Pixar does. And Nolan is more of a craftsman and a completely different talent.
LikeLike
Prasad
June 30, 2015
Hi BR,
“The way complex cognitive processes are broken down into a simple, witty, charming narrative is just magical — Nolan should take lessons from these guys.”
I think you’re referring especially to Insterstellar and Dark Knight rises which had complex plot and was confusing inparts. Pl clarify.
I know you’re not a great fan of Nolan especially Interstellar and Dark Knight Rises because of the hype. I also agree that both the movie had some flaws. But dont you think we need to give him due credit for his earlier movies like Memento, Prestige, Inception and his inventive filmmaking to rejuvenate Batman Series ?
Somehow I still feel he is one of the important filmmaker’s in Hollywood who doesn’t insult our intelligence and puts earnest efforts to challenge the viewer’s. Sometimes he does go overboard “interstellar” for e.g
In the context of “Inside out” I do understand that this has been crafted out very well but yes, Nolan also has delivered equally some siginificant complex plots. “Prestige” is a classic example interms of original writing.
Your thoughts please.
LikeLike
brangan
June 30, 2015
Rm: My TV-watching is very sporadic. Every once in a while, I’ll catch up on a season. But not on a regular/weekly basis — so I’m not very up-to-date. Haven’t seen much after Breaking Bad got over.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Vanya
June 30, 2015
Gah! I was hoping for a full fledged review of inside out. Heck, I’d even take a bullet point version!
True, “the journey” is a standard disney/Pixar trope, but one taking place inside somebody’s brain is radical enough to be its own thing, no? Btw, as a brain researcher (although, I’m not an expert on memory or emotions), I went in prepared to roll my eyes the entire time. Instead, I was met with a nuanced picture of brain function which gets so many thing right. And of course, I cried like a baby when spoiler Riley comes home and relives her memories tinged with poignance in place of joy spoiler.
My favorite comment about inside out came from NPR’s pop culture happy hour podcast which said the entire movie was basically an elaborate setup for the cat joke. 🙂
LikeLike
Shalini
June 30, 2015
Don’t wish to pressure you, but I would to love read a bullet-point review (I always liked the format) of “Inside Out.” Haven’t had a chance to see it yet since my child escort is currently in India, but an appreciative adult’s perspective on the film would be helpful. 🙂
LikeLike
Yossarian
July 1, 2015
@BR, enna saar, we asked for a review and you gave us a milliblog entry!
“Truly, I was a little scared about the raves when I went in — no film ever lives up to that kind of advance notice. but this one did.”
I’m always amazed by the way these animated characters “emote” in the Pixar movies, they should be nominating a couple of them for the best actor or actress category 🙂
LikeLike
Rahini David
July 1, 2015
BR: Yeah. A post (Bitty Rumination or some such) of TV please. Yeah you may not be a regular of any particular show, but still can still form opinions with small snippets and channel browsing. Maybe something regarding the current debate shows, reality tv and stuff.
Also can you please change the naming of bulletpoint reports
from Bullet-point Report: “Movie Name” to Movie Name: A Bullet-point Report so that it is easily detectable in the Recent Comments section.
LikeLike
ark
July 1, 2015
“My TV-watching is very sporadic. Every once in a while, I’ll catch up on a season. But not on a regular/weekly basis — so I’m not very up-to-date”
I will say you are missing some very good TV series. Last 2 years are very good for American Television. Even if you leave out highly violent GoT (which puts off lot of people) there were gems like “The Americans”, “Fargo” “The Affair”
LikeLike
neena
July 1, 2015
I’m surprised by the intense negative reaction to Rajesh here. Sure, he comes off seeming hostile, but I think his point about making a sweeping generalisation about Malayalam movies or Tamil movies based on a few good examples is valid. I didn’t find his comments this objectionable.
And I can see, what he means by saying that his class position affects how he looks at Malayalam movies. I’m making an assumption here about his class based on his comments, here, of course. I was recently telling a friend about how the ‘middle-classiness’ or the general realistic propserity of characters in Malayalam films is something I can identify with. This, it seems to me, is different from the slightly larger than life personas of multiplex Hindi cinema. But, perhaps, the flipside is that there are few films like Annayum Rasoolum which deal with the everyday lives of the poorer sections of society. And it is this content that perhaps makes Tamil cinema seem more ‘indigenous’. I may be way off the mark here as I haven’t seen much of Malayalam cinema. But, this is the sense I get from Rajesh’s comments.
On a different note, it is mildly annoying that coming-of-age films like Premam or Autograph or Vaaranam Aayirum all focus so much on the male protagonist’s harmonal obsessions; as if women don’t come-off age in the non-‘thandatti karuppayi’ sense. But, googled Om Shanthi Oshana which was mentioned in these blog pages a few times and found that it does exactly that 🙂 Definitely watching it, whatever be its flaws 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
aparna
July 1, 2015
I was just reading the comments underneath that link you’ve provided Rahini, thanks for directing me to that wonderful thread.
Like mentioned in there, despite having found Drishyam absolutely brilliant in most ways, I too found some of those initial dialogues sexist and cringe worthy. The macho alpha male beating – on – the – chest posturing of Mohan Lal too made me a little uncomfortable. Some people have made the point that those comments are true to his character of an lesser educated villager. While I do see the truth of that argument, couldn’t you then excuse away every sexist remark on screen like that? That the particular character is misogynistic, thats why they spoke like that. Or if someone is made fun of because they stutter, that’s because the person who made fun of them does not know any better. They could have left out those remarks in Drishyam and still made a fantastic movie, couldn’t they?
While like Rajesh has mentioned in that thread, its true that most of these “new generation” Malayalam movies are a little out of touch culturally with the reality in Kerala, my experience has been that there is more respect given to women in them, possibly as a consequence of the westernisation. And possibly with an eye on the huge non- resident-Keralite market and their second generation kids who probably prefer that sort of a treatment?
I’m feeling a little sorry that Rajesh is hurt, maybe he didnt mean to sound impolite. Also at the risk of sounding like a total smart alecky know-it- all, may I point out that his halo would have hurt Saar’s retina (and not the cornea)
LikeLiked by 1 person
aparna
July 1, 2015
a lesser educated 🙂
LikeLike
IMF
July 1, 2015
@Aparna, precisely. Thank goodness someone brought it up. I felt such unease re: his characterization in Drishyam. The thing is, for the film to work, we have to sympathize with with Mohanlal’s character. Georgekutty is portrayed in such a way that we’re supposed to think he’s a reasonable guy despite his lack of education (I have a problem with the whole pigeonholing of uneducated/village folk, but let’s set that aside for the time being). The problem is that I felt the movie romanticizes that sort of “conservative” (for the lack of a better word, and needless to say problematic) mindset. Misogynistic overtones throughout the movie made it really irritating to watch, personally.
Now coming to Premam, I really liked the making. The direction, editing, performance and music, all came together seamlessly. The comedy didn’t feel out of place either, it’s really fun. But still feel it’s a very “male” movie IMO, from everything to stalking girls to the “scene contra” song at the end. Malar character was loved because she’s down to earth, not outspoken, and is totally chill with them being jerks, even (take the ragging scene for eg.). Confirms to a lot of male fantasies there as well.
LikeLiked by 2 people
aparna
July 1, 2015
On shanthi oshana was such a wonderful movie from the female point of view. Re watching it when it came on Asianet last Sunday, I loved it as much as I did the first time around. The tongue in cheek narration, hilarious dialogues, the absolute quirkiness at places ( the China fantasy and the war mine narration) , the extremely realistic way she crushes on him and woos him through the thing which is closest to his heart ( his mothers writing) and the delight of Nasriya’s acting. Such a tragedy these absolutely talented heroines get married and quit.
LikeLike
MANK
July 1, 2015
Aparna, that’s very true about nazriya. that’s such a great loss and she is so young, just 19 or 20. something similar happened to manju warrier as well. Its very disappointing that such talented actresses have little artistic or career ambition. I absolutely loved her in OSO. I don’t think there’s any other actress who could have played that role as well as her. I watched that film a dozen times only for her performance, its such a delight to see that twinkle in her eyes, everytime she spots or hears about Nivin
LikeLiked by 1 person
MANK
July 1, 2015
Aparna,IMF,
RE:drishyam, I actually like the fact that mohanlal’s character is not perfect or politically correct – and not the pure as snow clichéd stereo type of the loving husband and father found in old movies .and so is the wife played by meena. she is not above blackmailing her husbandin bed to get what she wants or putting him down in front of others. this makes those characters more human, realistic and true to their surroundings IMO.
And they are contrasted by the urban couple played by siddiq and asha sharath, where she is a cop and is shown as the one with more decision making power – or at least equal power with her husband – in their family. So I don’t think the film is misogynistic as such.the filmmaker was just being truthful to his characters and their milieu IMHO.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Vanya
July 2, 2015
@neena, aparna: ever since manjadikuru I’ve been waiting for Anjali Menon to write an amazing coming of age story, or any story really, from a female POV. As far as I know, there are no other female screenwriters in malayalam at present.
Btw, at the time of Nazriya’s wedding, she said she planned on continuing her acting career. Fingers crossed.
LikeLiked by 1 person
brangan
July 2, 2015
MANK: Exactly. These are flawed characters — the way we all are. They are not meant to espouse a POV — they’re just meant to be who they are. That’s what makes them fascinating. So while it’s okay to point out and muse about the power equation in this particular relationship, we shouldn’t expect them to conform to our notions of political correctness.
LikeLiked by 2 people
venkatesh
July 2, 2015
BR : “These are flawed characters — the way we all are. They are not meant to espouse a POV — they’re just meant to be who they are” –
while i can see where you are coming from and possibly even agree with it, doesn’t that then excuse anything. They are “meant to be” is a slippery slope IMHO.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Prasad
July 2, 2015
MANK
“I actually like the fact that mohanlal’s character is not perfect or politically correct and not the pure as snow clichéd stereo type of the loving husband and father found in old movies”
Mohan Lal’s characterization is fine. But I also felt that one scene in the Dinner Table with her teenaged Daughter and a small Daughther was not necessary to imply what would’ve happened last night.I felt awkward looking at the Premise of the film . Infact Director Jeethu Joseph has been asked about this in multiple forums. Even I head from some other folks also who had seen the film has the same reaction. Other than that I didn’ find anything odd.
It’ll be interesting to see what Kamal will do in Papanasam :). There are some delicate and borderline scenes and Mohan Lal did an amazing job in underplaying the act.
But as well know, with Kamal it can go either way! Tomorrow we can find out the answer. He has to strike the same form as of “Mahandhi ” !
LikeLike
aparna
July 2, 2015
@MANK Yes asha sharath’s character was very powerful, but was it just me who felt that it was given a “Taming of the shrew” sort of treatment? That she was a little humbled at the end? I thought the movie fantastic, but I’m afraid there was however this slight after taste of sexism for me.
@Vanya Wasn’t Manjadikkuru lovely? Coming of age stories are always delightful ( the wonder years, to kill a mocking bird, even the wimpy kid diaries) and for me this movie had the extra quality of personal nostalgia : town kids(NRKs) spending their summer vacation in an ancestral house in Kerala and discovering the wonders of manjadikkurus and kunnikkurus. But perhaps you do not need to be female to capture authentically the female point of view. Jude Anthany Joseph did a great job in OSO didnt he?
LikeLiked by 3 people
aparna
July 2, 2015
@MANK You are right however in how Siddique is portrayed. Perhaps I should give the director the benefit of the doubt.
LikeLike
Vanya
July 2, 2015
@aparna: Funny you should mention the wonder years because I’ve been rewatching them recently and was delighted to see how well the show has aged! And being a “gelf” kid myself, I found plenty to relate to in manjadikkuru. 🙂 There is so much to love in that movie; her other films haven’t lived up to it, IMHO.
And sorry, I did not mean to imply that men and women can never write well for the opposite gender. Yes, OSO is definitely an excellent example againt such an argument. I think Judy Blume did a fantastic job writing in both POV in her YA work. Margaret Atwood also comes to mind. Anjali Menon seems to create more interesting male protagonists. But isn’t that the exception rather than the norm? The most unfortunate opposing example that comes to mind immediately is memoirs of a geisha, which to be fair is an awfully written book in general. I think hindi cinema has suddenly advanced in leaps and bounds, in terms of stories, partly because of the increased gender diversity behind the camera; still waiting for that change to happen in Kerala too.
LikeLike
ThouShaltNot
July 2, 2015
Rarely has a movie from recent times “connected” this well with an audience as “Drishyam” and that, in good measure, is due to its authentic feel. While more liberty can be taken where it involves fiction, sacrificing authenticity for political correctness can dilute a movie’s appeal. As for the movie, it was a brilliant portrayal by all and an especial mention for Asha Sarath.
Generally speaking, sensitivity is essential (as a precept for a pluralistic world), but when overdone, fear of insensitivity (where you have to tiptoe around every “uncomfortable” thought) can cramp style and impact freedom.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Srihari N
July 2, 2015
A funny tidbit is many of you might have observed Jude Anthany Joseph- The director of OSO acted in Premam. He played the funny role of Dancer Dolly Dcruz
LikeLiked by 1 person
IMF
July 2, 2015
MANK, I would respectfully disagree. This is the Ranjhnaa debate all over again (and some people refused to accept this point even after the director himself clearly stated that he intended to portray Kundan as a “hero”).
My problem is that director himself romanticizes this kind of setting/behavior. Georgekutty is not, IMO, supposed to some deliberately gray character – we are supposed to sympathize with him for the narrative to work. The whole “innocent” conservative village dweller. I really couldn’t get past the whole cringeworthy dialogues like “A wife’s place after marriage is inside the confines of her home” etc. All these plays right into the prejudices of people. I know it does, I’ve experienced this.
Also Meena blackmailing (albeit in a light hearted moment) her husband is pretty much stereotypical portrayal as well IMO, wives using sex as some sort of a bargaining chip. I don’t know what’s daring about any of this.
As for Asha Sharath bit, I agree that the dynamic between them is more “equal” maybe. But again the film goes all “oh look, we gave our son all the freedom and look how he turned out”. I’m not accusing Jithu Joseph of (over)simplistic characterization, my problem is romanticization of such mindset.
PS: I haven’t seen much.. um… “politically correct” characters in old malayalam movies anyway, the whole loving husband characters are usually patriarchal to the core. But that’s another discussion entirely.
Either way, you either agree or disagree, you can’t “prove” anything here. I hope I made my position/issues clear, though 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
aparna
July 2, 2015
@vanya The wonder years : sigh, those flower power sixties songs ( esp Joe Cockers theme song which was a version almost better than the Beatles original).
Yes, I guess directors and authors changing their voices to the opposite gender, are exceptions not the norm : John Green’s ‘The fault in our stars’ where he’s very authentic as the teen girl, and Sarah Waters’ extremely well written, ‘ rainbow’ hued, Fingersmith where she changes voices to suit characters, come to mind. I suppose you meant Atwood’s The blind assassin but the frequent change of narrative voice there, I did not like that much.
Also, I’m afraid , I think I like Malayalam cinema better than Hindi cinema, on the whole 🙂
LikeLike
aparna
July 2, 2015
I’m surprised you didnt like Ustaad hotel and Bangalore days. Or perhaps you only meant you liked them less than Manjadikuru.
LikeLike
brangan
July 2, 2015
http://scroll.in/article/737119/the-devotion-of-suspect-x-vs-drishyam-the-perfect-alibi-meets-the-perfect-double-crime
LikeLiked by 2 people
neena
July 2, 2015
IMF, I think you are spot on with the pigeonholing and romanticising the ‘innocent, sexist, villager’ character. Just because it is cinematised well and acted well doesn’t mean that it wud not deliver a sexist message. We wouldn’t say that every character Rajini played was supposed to be a misogynist alpha-male; so it’s okay for his movies to be what they are, would we? It is galling that these sensitivities can be dismissed as simply political correctness without taking into account established societal structures and entrenched social prejudices…
Btw, ‘Om Shanthi Oshana’….not what I expected 😦
LikeLiked by 1 person
MANK
July 2, 2015
IMF, thats fair enough. Just to add to what I have already said, what the directors intention for georgekutty’s character doesn’t really matter, its what we take away from the film that’s important and that’s very much dependent on our individual experiences and tastes. That’s why film viewing is such a subjective experience. And the comments I made about the misogyny of the husband and the wife using sex as a bargaining chip ,it was very much in the context of this movie or this kind of movie- where the man loves\protects his family to death, the husband and wife are always the paragons of virtue in these kind of movies. Whether its here- mohanlal’s balettan,thanmathra,…..
Mammootty in valsalyam,vesham,kazhcha,.or even in Hollywood- just watch those self righteous Harrison ford protecting his family movies like patriot games,air force one, firewall,………
But I respect your opinions and its always nice to hear a different perspective than yours
LikeLike
Vanya
July 3, 2015
@aparna: So, for me, Manjadikuru has been one of the best movies made in the last few years. Using a child’s perspective was very innovative, but the part that appealed to me emotionally was how the protagonist is exposed to his family members’ flaws, which is one of the most painful aspects of growing up. There were plenty of other things to love: the contrast between the easy, uncomplicated dynamics between the kids vs. grown ups who seemingly know better but follow an entirely incomprehensible set of social rules; the array of grownups who are spectacularly flawed, every one of them, but nobody being all “bad” or “evil” either; period and regional detailing… I could go on and on, but my point is that the movie effectively told a universal story in a fresh manner with rich regional flavor and imagery. I got this feeling at the end that this story could never have been told by anyone else! Whereas Ustaad hotel and Bangalore Days, while both enjoyable, felt generic and somewhat derivative. I know I’m being unfair because I would have said these two were good movies if they were made by some other director/writer. But Anjali Menon really raised the bar with Manjadikuru. So it’s her fault really. 😛
Btw, I was thinking of Oryx and Crake, not the Blind Assassin, although I loved that one too. I’d love to hear your thoughts about both but we may need to take this discussion offline. 🙂
And OMG, yes, malayalam cinema is better than hindi! But there are certain improvements hindi cinema has made of late, especially when it comes to women, which I have yet to witness in malayalam. (This parallel conversation regarding Drishyam touches on that perfectly.) And I feel it’s entirely because the hindi film industry now has a sizable female presence behind the camera.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Neena
July 3, 2015
MANK: what is called a virtue, that those lead characters you mentioned portrayed, can be recognised as sexism/misogyny/patriarchy. ‘Saamy’ the police who is the porukki is supposed to be a paragon of virtue, especially in his approach to women, so much so that he asks a constable to follow Trisha to her college unbeknownst to her, you know, just to protect her as much as he can.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Mambazha Manidhan
July 3, 2015
When Sai Pallavi intervenes Nivin & Co ragging a group of college speaking a Tamil line, I gasped involuntarily.
If anything living in Bangalore or Mumbai has taught me, it’s that locals don’t take kindly to the fact that you don’t bother to learn their native tounge. If I had a rupee every time I have seen a public confrontation in Bangalore interrupted by man saying “Talk in Kannada!” , I would have 7 Rupees by now.
So, there I was. Braced for the anger to follow, directed at the Tamil speaking girl for daring to cut in in a language other than the local dialect. Therefore, I was quite surprised and even amused by the subsequent reaction.
On my recent visit to Kerala, I found the hotel staff enjoying a Vadivelu comedy scene from Aditya TV, while I dont know when the last time I have stumbled on to Surya TV while changing the channels. Or is it Udaya TV? Sorry. I cannot tell the difference. I find it interesting that Tamil movies are released in Kerala, as it is, without even being dubbed like the Telugu market. They seem to understand Tamil quite easily, but for us Malayalam is still a type of jalebi.
I guess a hierarchy exists between the woods. Now, I can understand things such as Gautham Menon not being taken seriously in Kerala when he says he wants to do Malayalam movies, or Malayalam actors fawning over a Tamil speaking girl because on some level it is quite like Tamil actors fawning over fair-skinned actresses from Mumbai who can’t speak Tamil.
Of all the Drishyam remakes, the Hindi one looks most interesting from the trailer because it looks cinematic. Even though the alibi parts and the village ambience were superbly shot in the original Drishyam, the rest was dull. You don’t need scale for suspense, the police investigations with Asha Sharath came off as visually uninteresting. The staging was flat.
And, the minute I saw the rogue rich kid stereotype coming after Meena with his Camera phone on, I realized that this is an attempt to indianize the act, for the alibis to take over, which meant it was clearly a lift from somewhere else. You know, like the changes the Kamal Haasan – The Screenwriter did in Anbe Sivam to disguise its relation to Planes, Trains and Automobiles. Or the character strokes and touches he added to Unnaipol Oruvan to make the script his own so that it didn’t come across as a shot-by-shot remake.
Which is why I am most looking forward to Papanasam, because we get to see an avatar that has taken a back seat for such a long time, because of his screenwriting schtick: Kamal Haasan – The Actor. I can’t recall the last time I was bowled over by his acting. There were glimpses in the projector room during Uttama Villain but that’s all.
Lets bring out that telescope out to witness the occurence of a phenomenon in its full glory, the likes of which we won’t be seeing again for a long time I’m guessing (with vanity projects such as Thoongavanam lined up) – Kamal Haasan – The Star.
LikeLike
Varun Varun1
July 4, 2015
I cannot recall the last “regular” Tamil film that made me feel this. This Genre was already touched a decade back in Azhagi and Autograph. Cheran and Thangar Bachan were equally good and they made feel the same nostalgia. Why is this unnecessary observation? You cannot compare movies. You can say whether a movie whether Tamil or Telugu or malayalam or any language movie is good or bad. But how can you compare? This shows the immature thought process and utter lack of responsibility. Please avoid this in future.
LikeLike
aparna
July 4, 2015
Vanya, lovely thoughts there about Manjadikuru. Agree with most of what you say,you put it very well.
Oryx and Crake has a simpler narrative style : she’s used two voices but it wasn’t confusing like The blind assassin, where she uses different voices and in between, even voices from characters in a book, all at the same time. Ian MacEwan’s “Atonement “(one of those few situations where the book and the movie are equally superlative and reading the book before hand did not make the movie feel inferior ) looks at one, same. central incident from different human perspectives so well that its one of the most incredibly written books ever. Please do try and read that one, if you haven’t already. But you’re right. Better to carry this conversation off site. After all, this is a movie blog. I’ll mail you?
LikeLiked by 1 person
aparna
July 4, 2015
Also having been a little disappointed after watching some serials in adulthood that I loved when younger (“Some mothers do ‘ave ’em” and even “Yeh jo hai zindagi” wasn’t quite as funny as it was in memory), I’m a little afraid to re visit “The wonder years”.
LikeLike
aparna
July 4, 2015
IMF I know a few male feminists, but none quite as wonderfully passionate about the cause as you are :). Why is your interesting blog inactive now?
Definitely old Malayalam movies have a lot of patriarchy but not all of them surely? The action movies and some family dramas, yes. I used to have a mild crush on Jayaram once but it quite evaporated after some movies he chose to make : I particularly remember that in one scene, he slapped his wife after she argued with him and the predominantly male audience burst into cheers. Cant remember the movie (was it Verudey oru bhaarya?) But I have never found anything to cringe about in any of those delightful comedies of the eighties. Though there is a slight objectification of the leading lady in the otherwise delightful Maanaar Mathai comedies.
Thanks for directing me to the Raanjhiya thread. I do see the validity of the “being true to art” argument. I particularly remember one hilarious Seinfeld episode (the yada yada one) where he pokes fun at this whole process of being “politically correct”. He suspects his dentist has converted to Judiasm just so he can crack anti-Jew jokes and not be judged. But I don’t see how that can be carried through in its entirety without being insulting in some cases. Like, isn’t it downright cruel the way Indian movies derive humour from physical disabilities: shortness, stuttering, obesity, being dark complexioned. You hardly ever have such cringe worthy situations in foreign movies. Though I did see one British “comedy” TV series (can’t remember the name) that made fun of old people appallingly, at their incontinence and slowness : we do not see that in Indian movies ever. Perhaps because we respect old people more in India and the film makers know that this sort of humour will not go down well with the audience? Piku pokes fun at the foibles of old age,but never is it disrespectful (on the contrary). Also westerners happily poke fun at religion. Perhaps movie makers are guided by audience sensibilities : in India its funny and ok to be insulting about women, stuttering, being fat, but respect is due to old people (no problems with that, of course) and heaven help you if you are insulting/funny about religion. Very valid point you make there in the Raanjhiya thread about how our exposure to western books and movies from childhood shape our thoughts and how re-inforcing audience thoughts regarding their prejudices, only helps perpetuate them. And like Vanya said, movie makers who have been exposed to more liberal ideas probably make more sensitive movies.
On the other hand, suppose we had never been exposed to these sort of western influences, would we also not be getting outraged at (and stoning theaters that play) movies that mock religion and would we not also not be ok with making fun of LGBTs? This is all a little complex and confusing 🙂
LikeLike
MANK
July 4, 2015
Like, isn’t it downright cruel the way Indian movies derive humour from physical disabilities: shortness, stuttering, obesity, being dark complexioned. You hardly ever have such cringe worthy situations in foreign movies.
Aparna, so I see that you haven’t watched any of those farrely brothers movies like Me, myself and Irene, shallow hal, something about Mary,….. or any of those comedies of Adam Sandler-who actually made a career by doing exactly that in film after film. good for you.
Re: mocking religion, well, its become such a serious issue in the last 20 odd years, especially after rise of hindutva and the media explosion. Take a film like MT’s nirmalyam made in the 70’s, there is a scene in the film where the lead character of the oracle played by P.J. Anthony spits on the idol and there was no controversy, on the contrary it won the president’s gold medal for best picture. now just imagine what would have happened today. The fact that a Christian actor playing Hindu oracle alone would have caused controversy and having him spit on the Hindu idol would have caused riots and deaths. They are lots of cases like that in Malayalam cinema of that time or on Bengali – satyajit rai’s films like Devi and ganasatru – or even in mainstream Hindi cinema . just look at Bachchan’s atheist character in dewaar and his angry outbursts against god, I don’t think that would happen today
LikeLiked by 2 people
MANK
July 4, 2015
Aparna, having a patriarchal background in a film is not a problem IMO. The best filmmakers and writers in Malayalam cinema like MT, Bharathan, padmarajan, adoor have all set their films in that milieu but boasted of the most powerful multi dimensional female characters anywhere in world cinema. whether its mohini in parinayam or geetha in panchagni. Adoor’s elipathayam actually shows the patriarch of the family as the weak and coward, while his sisters to be the more proactive
LikeLike
ThouShaltNot
July 4, 2015
IMO, it is wrong to compare Drishyam and Rajini movies for the sexist remarks here. Some of Rajini’s movies have overtly peddled the cherchez la femme motif. At some point in his career, the masses turned Rajini into a moral science messiah. Neither is Drishyam that kind of movie, nor does Mohanlal pontificate like the Rajini characters. Mohanlal ‘s sexist remarks here will remain just a footnote (a character’s particular trait overshadowed by the total person) because the movie is about harassment, self-defense, crime, cover-up, coercion, steadfastness, retaliation etc. Both families feel spent by the end of this gripping ordeal. And it is hard to imagine either finding solace anytime soon. That is what stays.
LikeLike
neabs
July 4, 2015
This format is interesting but will wait for your review.That will be more of enhanced encounter.
I am quite late to watch the movie, but made a point to watch asap.
I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, a step head of just liking , it gave a terrific experience as viewer. The camera was stunning(couldn’t take my eyes off) and music looked so energetic, it was so pleasant to hear as well as interesting to watch. Technically superb.
I actually loved it content wise also , though a lot reference is being made with autograph, I feel autograph is more of a personal encounter , Premam on the other hand had is story neatly sketched characters , i loved both celine and Malar’s character. Also Arivu and koya ,shambu, jojo were equally interesting.
The humor element was best part , never have laughed so much and I am still laughing remembering few.
spoilers ahead
The initial scenes of tempting peanut candies, the cakes at the final episodes were so captivating.
Nivin’s transformation so stunning , loving his performance from movie to movie.
LikeLike
aparna
July 5, 2015
MANK No, not seen many of those kind of movies : due to time constraints, I mostly only watch Hollywood movies with high ratings/ recommended ones. But I have seen “There’s something about Mary” and found it very funny, loved it actually, even though I realize it wasn’t that politically correct. Also I saw Sandler’s “Blended” recently which had some near shocking stereotyping of Africans, so yes, you may have a point there.
Also trivia : Sai Pallavi is an MBBS medical student from Russia, I’d received a whatsapp image of her in a coat in a Russian hospital, would like to share it here, but I don’t see the option of adding photos here in the comments box. How do you do that?
LikeLike
Priya
July 6, 2015
*****SPOILERS**********
Did anyone else feel that the ending of the movie was open-ended? Is Malar still unmarried?
LikeLike
neabs
July 6, 2015
@Priya as for my memory , it shows that Malar is back from memory loss, she remembers her past with George.
LikeLike
MANK
July 6, 2015
Priya,as far as I can recollect, malar is married, the only ambiguity is concerning her amnesia. I am not sure whether she had amnesia or whether she was only acting like that.
LikeLike
Pranesh
July 6, 2015
@aparna: I don’t want the russian doctor picture, but one way to share it is to upload it somewhere like http://tinypic.com/ and link it here?
LikeLike
Supertramp
July 7, 2015
@priya, neabs MANK As far as I can recollect, she had ‘sindooram’ if that’s what you are looking for. Her cousin(husband?) says to her something to which she replies ‘ he looks happy, that’s enough’ (happya thaane irikke….something something..). She remembers their time together, but ambiguity regarding amensia is still there.
P.S : Mary, who is in US, probably didn’t come to the wedding. Dad, mom, sis and all were somewhere around, but the focus was on the stage. 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Siddarth Senthilkumaran
July 7, 2015
Well Malar is definitely married. But I don’t think she pretended to have amnesia because there is no motive there. A possible explanation could be that she regained some of her memories, if that is possible. I was actually really hoping for a grandstand cinematic finish with Nivin and Malar getting together in the end. But I guess it’s more “real” the way it finished.
LikeLike
Priya
July 7, 2015
Just the way George looks at Malar at the end, it feels like he felt cheated more than it being a tryst of fate.. I dunno maybe I’m over-analyzing 😀
LikeLiked by 2 people
Neena
July 7, 2015
@ThouShaltNot: Of course, it is not overt pontification here. But, was this particular trait absolutely necessary to Georgekutty’s characterisation? That may be a useful question to ask when it could be perpetuating socially dangerous notions. If Georgekutty was say this non-stereotypical liberal or even intellectual village guy, and he finds that when it comes to his family, a basic primal protective instinct kicks in, wouldn’t that have made a more interesting plot? Not that that is how the movie should have been made. But, the sexist remarks weren’t the only way to remain true to the characterisation or authentic in portrayal. Intellectual village Malayalee men are not hard to come by at all. So, the rules of avoiding sexism applies to Rajini movies as well as an artfully made film like Drishyam. That’s what I meant.
LikeLike
neabs
July 7, 2015
@supertramp I was looking for Mary on final sets of sister’s wedding .
LikeLike
ThouShaltNot
July 8, 2015
@Neena: If the widespread sentiment were, “Look at how Mohanlal treats Meena in Drishyam. That is how I’ll treat my woman ..”, I’d have no problems being nudged on this issue. But, I don’t believe Mohanlal’s characterization moves the needle of sexism either way. Whereas with Rajini (the superstar), his on-screen pronouncements have staying power well beyond their theatrical presentation.
Additionally, while glorification of a repugnant reality is bad, glossing over reality (or sanitizing it) is bad as well. The focus shifts from stemming a rot (that an interest group cares deeply about) to instead stemming a movie’s depiction of a rot. Whether a particular movie or parts within it is rotten will not always be cut and dry however. My own yardstick is whether a character’s disparaging remarks and odious behavior are gratuitous (or inauthentic) and whether it has reach that is detrimental. You might have a different yardstick. But, tinker much with an artist’s creation and you generate the unfortunate side effect of a “death by a thousand cuts” (a cut per interest group). You end up with movie B instead of movie A.
LikeLiked by 1 person
sanal
July 9, 2015
Hi, The Entire package was 5/5 for me, simple story, but creative geniuses converted it into a Nostalgic Magnificent movie, and yeah we tend to forget the Music, especially the Background music is such energetic and soulful. If not watched this one, do go and have a great 2.5 hours. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Jyoti
July 9, 2015
Please, consider making a similar list of Tamil movies, and unless you are biased like Mr. Rangan, your list would be at least 3 or 4 times bigger than that (without even considering the Vijay/Surya/Ajith/Kamal stuffs). The uniqueness of that list would be that, many in that list would be made by small time directors and cast. If you dare to add those small Tamil movies, which only had the most indigenious kind of heroes and actors and Plots – no one having the typical Indian hero/villain features – for eg. Azhagarsaamiyin kuthirai or Potta Potti etc – (can you ever imagine a Malayalam mainstream movie making a similar casting these days)
Dear sir, I do sincerely hope that the Tamil list is bigger than the malayalam list, especially considering that Tamil film industry releases at least 50 films more than the malayalam industry every year. And if you do understand malayalam, I suggest that you watch movies like adaminte makan Abu, 101 chodyangal, left right left, shutter, perariyathavar, etc. I’m sure you will agree that these movies do show case lesser known actors and narrates the tales of indigenous characters.
LikeLiked by 1 person
bart
July 9, 2015
Saw “Inside Out” and loved it. Enjoyed the islands, memory balls, archival, abstracts, dream factory et al. Royal salute to the imagination and execution!
Qwestin Govindhu: Saar, this idea of making characters out of what is inside the brain and running the whole movie with them should be patented to our one and only “idea mani” SJ Suryah, no? A aa (aaaaahhhhh).. Just asking 🙂
LikeLike
kans345
July 10, 2015
BR: I just loved this movie. The second act was the most impressive. I would not actually call it a second act, it is a movie in itself. Right from the first shot, underneath the stage, and the fight with mural gopi’s baritone voice on the background, it was a great visual experience. Moreover I loved the way in which the director used, the space between the class room, staff room and the verandah. There were lot of creative editing and imaginative framing that added sheen to this lovely part. The actress Sai pallavi was a revelation. I am very glad that you got to watched and reviewed this movie, kindly do also consider watching and reviewing some good bengali movies such as the ones made by Kaushik Ganguly.
LikeLike
Neena
July 10, 2015
ThouShaltNot: I’m copy-pasting something I wrote on the Papanasam comments thread…
“Interestingly, despite many of us feeling that a movie character cannot be expected to fit into our own ideals, Suyambulingam is in many ways an idealised character – has only completed 4th standard but is capable of feeding his family and keeping them happy, will do anything when it comes to his family, his family is his whole world and so on. The everyman hero, not in the crass way a Rajini character usually is, but in his own way,”
…something that another commentator wrote on the same thread:
“Unlike a book, characters in a movie do not exist exclusively in a fictional universe, by virtue of the fact that real actors play the parts. The parallel discussion in this thread about always sensing Kamal the actor is a testament to that. With regards to this particular movie, the fact that Kamal went out his way to apologize for riding a bike without a helmet shows that he recognizes this as well. This is a movie, where the protagonist, while not exactly larger than life, is a hero, whose voice automatically becomes the voice of the movie (by extension, the filmmaker’s). When this voice is amplified by the fact that this hero wins every single battle in the story, the political incorrectness is hard to dismiss as merely a character trait.”
LikeLike
savitha
July 13, 2015
dear rangan,
I’m a movie buff that enjoys all kinds of good movies. I find your reviews really sync with my perceptions. I’d see a movie after I read your feedback; reading it is itself a pleasure.
The last movie I saw was ‘Premam’, hadnt seen anything so amusing lately. Notice the scene where the friends are discussing something serious, and one of the guys asks the other one to remove his new shirt that the other one is wearing.. Not loud but so subtly the director has brought the level of intimacy among them. Hats off Puthren!.
LikeLike
deepak mathew
August 20, 2015
i am a proper malayalee and was reading some of the reviews over here… i really don’t think a non malayalee person can appreciate the current crop of malayalam movies because there are lots and lots of offhand humour and old movie references and witty side comments that you people wouldn’t get unless malayalam is your mother tongue or u have lived in kerala… the plot in movies like om shatnthi oshana and premam is not too complicated.. it is these little moments that make up the movies beauty.
LikeLike
brangan
August 20, 2015
deepak mathew: really don’t think a non malayalee person can appreciate the current crop of malayalam movies
I disagree.
If you say “a non-Mallu cannot appreciate these films to the extent a native speaker can,” then yes, sure.
But to say non-Mallus cannot appreciate — a blanket statement — is wrong. Just because you don’t get 100% of something, doesn’t mean that the 75% cannot be “appreciated.”
And this is true with all languages and cultures. I adore Truffaut’s films, but there’s always going to be the fact that a French speaker will find more things to “appreciate.” But that doesn’t mean your “appreciation” is invalid.
LikeLiked by 5 people
MANK
September 6, 2015
http://behindwoods.com/tamil-movies-cinema-news-15/malayalam-film-premam-completes-100-days-in-theaters-on-september-5.html
Quite an achievement in these times
LikeLike
M_Raghavan
November 17, 2015
I just saw it and liked it. I can’t say I loved it, however. The new cast was terrific, but there was just something falling in love so fast with each of them. There was hardly any time to develop the characters to form an effective. But, the bittersweet humor made up for it.
LikeLike
Naveen
January 13, 2016
guys, kick starting the premam train again. lot of interviews of the team (pallavi, nivin, alphonse, shabareesh, rajesh, anupama, et al) available on youtube now. throws lot of light into the unique methods they used in making the movie. contributes a lot to the Premam experience
LikeLike
udhaysankar
January 16, 2016
Long after I watched this flick, I found out that Alphonse, Rajesh used to edit and score respectively for Karthik Subburaj’s short films and that they share a good friendship. Similarly I also found out that Balaji Mohan has acted in a short-film by Nalan Kumarasamy.
LikeLike
Amit Joki
March 28, 2016
I quite liked the movie. Really loved the way how the texture of the film gave a warm feeling to it.
The colours were damp and it enhanced the mood to a great extent.
I particularly like the way he shot those scenes where inanimate object in the foreground is blurred and the characters far behind are focussed.
The way film treated scenes involving eatables was top notch, as someone said they were staged so as to make our mouth water.
BR, you said on of the threads that ideator is different from filmmakers.
I got to see your point. But Alphonso Puthiran treads beautifully as an ideator but more as a film maker.
And what the heck with remaking every hit film? Shruthi Hassan is playing Malar. I would be the first person to run away from the theatre when she confronts George over ragging, she doesn’t sound good. Apart from 3 (moonu) , her voice is something like American English accent colambified with British accent and out comes neither but Tamil.
Nivin Pauly is raising his bar with each release. How I wish Dhanush worked in such a beautiful film with a filmmaker whose aesthetic senses compliment the narration and staging.
Sometime
LikeLike
Enna koduka sir pera
July 15, 2016
I just saw Premam and liked it. I also watched a few other really nice Malayalam movies recently and I can’t but look away from the contrasting portrayal of female characters in Malayalam and Tamil movie industries. I do not know whether the ones that I saw are among the few Malayalam movies that happen to have interesting female characters or whether this is true of most of their movies. Nevertheless, they seem to be normal women that we see from different sections of the society whose brains are not reduced to peas and they seem to have a character of their own. I am really interested in following modern Malayalam cinema and was looking for good reviewers of Malayalam movies. Any suggestions?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Vishnu
October 8, 2016
Really feel good movie….block buster in Naga Chaitanya career….3 different shades in character. ..
LikeLike
patriciajosef
September 4, 2017
Hai, I’m From Tamil Nadu, I love Malayalam Movies, and they are soft romantic and gentle. On the whole Malayalam movies give a gentle good feeling without much violence (from the films I watched). I have only one thing to say for Malayalam Industry, Really the actors should look after their physique both male and female actors. Malayalam Actors who work in other Industries have transformed very well about their physique. Those who did thing are still in the Industry and those who don’t are disappeared long ago. Nayanthara is the perfect example for this. In every other technique Malayalam is much better than the other Industries In India. I hope someone will listen and think about this. I read lot of Malayalam cinema news (chalachithram ) mollywood news here. Hope you enjoy too. Wishing a great year for Malayalam film Industry.
LikeLike
Kay
September 4, 2017
On a lighter vein:
Came across this thread from the sidebar and as I was going through it, I realised there were so many off the topic discussions here and still nobody seemed to have any issue with it. Same is the case with many other threads in which the discussion veers off in different directions. I think the problem with off the topic discussion in the Arjun Reddy thread was because of the apologies mentioned along with the comments. So people, better don’t apologise when you go off the topic. 🙂
LikeLike
Kiruthika
January 30, 2024
I agree that Premam is a good movie with wonderful screenplay but is it necessary to put down another director who I believe is the original inventor of this storyline?
LikeLike