- I’m getting increasingly fascinated by our heroines these days. Take the Royal Enfield-riding Kayal (Nikki Galrani) in Yaagavarayinum Naa Kaakka. She knows the hero (Saga, played by Aadhi) is interested in her. She spots him waiting for her outside her college. She approaches him from behind and taps his shoulder. He turns, surprised to see her outside rather than in class. “Waiting for me, no?” she asks. He mumbles something. “Why waste time and energy?” she says, and seats herself behind him, on his bike. She asks him to stop at a TASMAC shop. She buys two bottles of beer. She asks him when he started drinking. “College,” he says. She says she started in school. She then directs him to a pharmacist’s, where she buys a ten-pack of “protection.” The rate she was going, I kept waiting for her to specify a flavour. And then, she takes Aadhi to her terrace. There’s no one around. She asks him, “Are you a virgin?”
- There’s a twist to this, of course – a rather cheeky one. And I kept thinking, “She’s just like the Karthik character in Mouna Raagam.” I thought that was just me, since a lot of my reference points come from the 1980s. But what do you know, Saga himself asks Kayal, “Un manasula Mouna Raagam Karthik-nu nenapaa?” Thereon, it’s just easier to spot the other Mani Ratnam hat-tips. The “Are you a virgin?” line on the terrace? Dil Se. The scene where Mumbai’s top gangster, a Tamilian, lifts the sheet covering a badly disfigured corpse and staggers back? Nayakan. Kayal barging into Saga’s home and making him splutter nervously? Agni Natchatiram.
- This is one of those movies where a very ordinary young man gets entangled with someone super-powerful and is drawn into violence – something like Sathya. Again, I thought that association was just mine, since a lot of my reference points come from the 1980s. But we have an action scene that ensues after a goon figuratively disrobes Kayal by snatching her dupatta. Change the dupatta to a dhavani, and you have an action scene from Sathya.
- Kinda strengthens my theory that either (a) today’s filmmakers are so influenced by Mani Ratnam and Kamal Haasan that bits and pieces from their films keep creeping in, subconsciously, or (b) Mani Ratnam and Kamal Haasan have put their unique stamp on so many situations and tropes that we cannot help but be reminded of their work when we see these new films drawing on those same situations and tropes.
- The director, Sathya Prabhas Pinishetty, likes twists. Apart from what Kayal plans to do with the beer and condoms, there’s a twist about the owner of a forearm with a distinctive tattoo. There’s a twist about a character you think is good, but then there’s a twist and you think the character is evil, and then there’s a twist and you realise the character is good, after all.
- The most idiotic twist is about a lecherous friend, who gets the plot rolling in the second half. (Till then, of course, we have endure a time- and patience-sapping romantic track, which is so totally irrelevant to the actual plot that I’d be complaining about it if we weren’t being subjected to this in every other movie.) If this pal is a lech, then you can’t just have this character trait pop up when you need it. You have lay the groundwork early on. Otherwise, it’s just a random plot-ignition device.
- But then, that would mean we shrink disgustedly from this chap, and that cannot happen. After all, he’s a nanban, and this film is about natpu. There’s even a song that goes Thozha thozha. These are the kind of friends who don’t mind too much when one of them tears up their exam hall tickets, so they can hang out in college for some more time. If one of my friends did something like this, I’d unleash the first half of this movie on him.
- All that said, this isn’t a terrible movie – merely a generic and often clueless one, of which you say things like “the second half picks up.” The problem isn’t that it’s preposterous (despite being based on a true story and all). The problem is that it isn’t taut enough to stop us from thinking it’s preposterous.
- I am always amused when films of this sort feel the need to inform us that we’re “26 nautical miles from Keelakarai coast.” Not 25. Not 27. 26. Because that makes all the difference.
- Aadhi is just not convincing. He’s all muscled up, which means it’s hard to take him as an “ordinary young man.” Plus, he doesn’t just do emotion. He does yemoshun – the quivering lips, the halting speech patterns. Someone should tell him we’re in 2015.
- The antagonist is played by Mithun Chakraborty, who’s not bad. But this sort of casting is always distracting. About the only flaw in Aranya Kaandam was Jackie Shroff. Sure, he looked the part. But he didn’t feel like he belonged there. The small lip-sync issues. The slightly odd body language. You keep wondering what it might have been like had an actor familiar with the language, the milieu had played the part.
- But at least, this is interesting casting. As opposed to Naren and Pragathi, who play the hero’s disappointed father and indulgent, excuse-making mother. Just a few weeks ago, they played these same parts in Inime Ippadithan.
- The best thing about Yaagavarayinum Naa Kaakka is the cultural-education aspect of the title, which I had to look up. It’s part of a couplet from the Thirukkural, and it means you have to have control over your tongue. Clearly, this doesn’t apply to people reviewing movies like Yaagavarayinum Naa Kaakka.
KEY:
- flavour = see here
- “Un manasula Mouna Raagam Karthik-nu nenapaa?” = Do you think you’re Karthik in Mouna Raagam?
- dupatta = see here
- dhavani = see here
- nanban, thozha = friend (in the bromantic sense)
- natpu = friendship
- Thirukkural = see here
- Inime Ippadithan = see here
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: Bullet-point Report, Cinema: Tamil
Rahini David
June 29, 2015
“which I had to look up”?
Seriously?
If nothing else, that is one of the Kurals recited by the Gurkha(tamil vaathyaar) in Kadhala Kadhala. (Arathupaal? Illa Nepal)
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sanjana
June 29, 2015
The last bullet point is too good.
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sanjana
June 29, 2015
Please continue with these bullet point reviews. It is like cloudless clear blue sky.
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Priyangu
June 29, 2015
Rahini, I wasn’t surprised that BR had to look it up. I don’t think his second language would have been Tamil in school. That apart, these days there are lot of movie titles like “Soodhu kavvum”, “Nenjukku neethi”, “Idam porul yeval”, “Vizhithiru”, originating from hardcore Tamil literature/grammar. I’m quite curious as to how many of the present day urban Tamil youth would be aware of these literary origins, when I sometimes find even some rural youth find it difficult to understand illakkana Tamil.
Anyway, that “Arathuppaal? lla Nepal”, was a good one. 🙂
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Madhu
June 29, 2015
Are these ‘look-at-me’ titles for crowd scouring? There was this trailer for a short film named ‘Gnamali’. The trailer explains that it is going to be a movie about stray dogs. All through it I kept wondering, why gnamali? Why not ‘naai’? I mean, won’t naai be more, uhmm, relatable? Then, I started replacing ‘pure’ words for their normal equivalents in movie titles: like ‘azhagarsaamiyin puravi’ instead of ‘azhagarsaamiyin kudhirai’ and shuddered. I don’t usually feel this way for all titles. Since ‘mudhalamaichar’ would have been a little too much information about the plot line, Ko is a better alternative – it only says leader, which could be the hero. But Ganamali gave me sleepless nights. Well, that’s just me, spending way too much time trying to figure out what the director thought.
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venkatesh
June 29, 2015
Darn it BR, I clicked on Dhavani thinking it would be some Illayaraja song from Bharatiraja film instead, its How to wear half-saree…..
Now, Google is suggesting similar things to me on my YouTube.
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Neena
June 29, 2015
Seconding Rahini, really?? It’s the kind of ‘popular’ kural that gets thrown about easily (ironically!) and you can’t help having heard it, growing up in TN. Suddenly, all your ramblings about being English-educated and so not that connected with much of the mileu in Tamil films, makes sense. There seems to be different kinds of English-educated within TN too – with a smattering of popular kurals and without ;p
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KayKay
June 29, 2015
B, something about the first bullet point that talks about beer, condoms, lonely terrace and virginity and the last bullet point that talks about having control over one’s tongue is making me imagine an entirely different movie.
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Ram Murali
June 29, 2015
@Rahini David – that was a hilarious scene! That sequence also had one of my favorite Crazy Mohan lines, one that I completely missed the first time I watched “Kadhala Kadhala.”
SN Lakshmi (playing a Muslim) – “Meharnoosha Vaapa Vairaaga”
Kamal – “Meharnoosha yaaru?”
SN Lakshmi – “En Magan theyn”
Kamal – “‘Vaa paa’-neengaley, varuvaara?!”
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Iswarya
June 29, 2015
Neena, Rahini: Absolutely. All along I thought this was among the top 25 kurals commonly used in conversation and that anyone brought up in TN would recognise it quite easily. That was really a surprise!
General doubt – As with the case of the “Y” in Yennai Arindhaal, am I in a negligible minority when I am bothered by the English spelling of this title? I know of course that this transliteration reflects how the verse is commonly pronounced, but the purist in me finds it misleading to pronounce the second letter of the title as ‘ga’ instead of ‘ka’!
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Srinivas R
June 29, 2015
The Bullet Point format is fine for this movie but the same format for Premam felt a little incomplete. Here you touch upon things in detail, in the other review, I didn’t get anything except the fact that it had real “cinema” (and you liked it) as opposed to just a good script. Keep with these detailed BRs and everybody’s happy 🙂
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Anuja
June 29, 2015
BR and KayKay: Wow! You have gone and done the impossible, you have found a way to make the Thirukurral titillating! Students will forever be grateful. Allow me to contribute my two cents worth…
Fun fact: The Thirukurral is divided into three parts and the third one called Kamathuppaal deals with love, physical longing, etc. Who knew the great man with the knack for pithy poetry had such a penchant for passionate verse? Sample this:
“His very look was once pleasing; but now
even intercourse is painful through fear of separation.” (Thirukurral 1152)
or
“The pleasure of lust is as great as the sea;
but the pain of lust is far greater.” (Thirukurral 1166)
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Anu Warrier
June 29, 2015
Kaykay, splutter – you owe me a keyboard. 🙂
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Madhu
June 30, 2015
Iswarya: I think yaGAvarayinum is the correct word. I remember my Tamil teacher saying that the letter should be pronounced like ga in gambeeram.
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theworldofacinemapaithiyam
June 30, 2015
Not a fan of this bullet point method to be honest Baradwaj. Preferred the fluidity of your normal ways.
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Rahini David
June 30, 2015
Ram Murali: This is pretty much the first time I am quoting KK and not being told off for introducing Mokka into the conversation. But whatever people may say about it. It is my favorite Guilty Pleasure movie.
I guess you have to be a diehard Crazy Mohan fan to enjoy it. 🙂
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B.h. Harsh
June 30, 2015
You’ve got to review ‘Inside out’.
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brangan
June 30, 2015
Rahini David: What can I say? For some reason, the teacher was bigger on Aathichoodi and Konrai Vendhan… Or maybe there were some kurals too, and it’s just slipped from memory.
Srinivas R: That’s the beauty of the bullet-point format. It doesn’t have to be comprehensive. If I feel like writing only about the “cinematic aspect” of a film, then that’s what it is.
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hari
June 30, 2015
Coming from BR’s generation, I too a second language sanskrit and 3rd language hindi student, would not have got the meaning of the verse if not for the fact that I’m teaching my 5 year old daughter thirukkural for the last few months. There are some awesome kurals out there. Happy kuraling 🙂
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Ram Murali
June 30, 2015
@Rahini David – I don’t think “Kathala Kathala” is Crazy’s best work. While the first half was hilarious, I thought that the second half was a little too confusing. I mean, you had to really pay attention to follow the multiple levels of mistaken identities. But that said, the first half was comic gold. Some of the jokes were absolutely hilarious!
“Dhikk Friends Aaytaango” (Kamal referring to Prabhu Deva and Madan Bob)
“You like Picasso?”
“Ille-nge Falooda-ve full aaydum!”
“Chennai-la Velakaari-ya Velakaari-nu sonna kovam vandhudum!”
“Yaen?”
“Pazhani-la Murugaruku Vel irukudhu. Adhunaala avara velakaaran-nu sollida mudiyuma?!”
“Swimming Pool Paathengalaa?”
“Naan Paakatha Swimming Pool-aa? America pooraa Swimming Pool than”
“Apo car elaam epdi pogum?!”
I guess you have to be a diehard Crazy Mohan fan to enjoy it. 🙂
–> That I am…big time!
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Iswarya
June 30, 2015
Madhu:
I understand that this is how it’s commonly pronounced. I was only wondering aloud about how that pronunciation rather defeats the sense of what’s being said. “Kaaval” is used in every other form (“kaaththal,” “kaavalan,” “kaappu” and so on) with a ‘kaa’ only, I guess. Especially because it occurs again in the same line. So, this one feels rather odd.
Anyway, I belong to musty-dictionary-land and I don’t think anyone else would even bother with this.
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Srinivas R
June 30, 2015
The genius of Thirukural is that it fits with the twitter generation. May be the great man had the foresight to know that anything more than 7 words wouldn’t even merit a second look a few centuries down the line.
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apala
June 30, 2015
@KayKay: That’s hilarious dude……..but நாவை மட்டுமில்ல மற்றதையும் காக்கணும்-ங்ண்ணா!!!
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Priyangu
July 1, 2015
@Rahini, is there any rule that one should not write ‘mokka’ jokes in these comment sections? 🙂 Btw, do you know the orgin of this word ‘mokka’? In old times, the near synonyms of this word were ‘kadi’, ‘sori’, ‘aruvai’, ‘rambam’ etc etc.. which were all tamil words. Don’t know if ‘mokka’ also has any tamil origin or if it is just a made-up word in recent times.
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neena
July 1, 2015
Priyangu: It’s not about learning kural in school. I have no recollection of being ‘taught’ this kural. It’s something that you just know… perhaps, having heard it somewhere. Doubt that Kurals are a regular part of the rural everyday life any more than the urban, though.
Iswarya: It’s interesting, isn’t it? That when we spell in a different script, we use the phonetic equivalent and not transliterate from the written word of the original language. But, Yennai Arindhal felt more like a numerology thing.
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gvsafamily
July 2, 2015
@Ram Murali:
Make that two 🙂 And it takes a Kamal to do complete justice to Crazy’s craziness!
I still remember – six years ago, a friend and I spent the entire time in train traveling Chennai to Bangalore, in a game of one-upmanship to quote the choicest dialogues from Kamal-Crazy combo, cracking up all the while, completely oblivious to the stares of our fellow passengers 🙂
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Pady Srini
July 3, 2015
I think for folks who started watching movies in the 80s, the reference is set. So almost all movies seem like a “have seen” story. Especially the Hollywood crap nowadays. Movies like “Drishyam”, “NKPK” are the rare ones that have stood out to me.
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raghavan0418
March 17, 2016
Couldn’t have said it better myself. This movie has got to be the cheapest excuse for a thriller I have ever seen.
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