Watching a movie with an audience makes it a very different movie.
During the latter half of Sanam Teri Kasam, which was released about a week ago, we’re told the heroine has a brain tumour. Ailments are always so lovely in the movies. At home, a cold means red eyes, sneezes that can blow the roof off a car, fingers coated with snot. In the movies, there’s just a dainty hat-choo into a handkerchief. That’s how this tumour is too. A tiny trickle of blood descends from a nostril every time the heroine suffers an attack. By the third trickle, the audience had lost interest. The heroine is getting married to the hero. “Kal main saadi pehnoongi,” she says. (She’ll wear a sari.) She asks what he will wear. The man in the seat next to mine said to the screen, “Kuch nahin.” (Nothing.) The theatre burst into laughter, and I couldn’t catch the hero’s reply. The filmmakers must have hoped for a tender reaction. We were clutching our sides.
In the extraordinary book of conversations between the legendary film and sound editor Walter Murch and writer Michael Ondaatje, Murch says that a film “engages each member of the audience as a participant in the work. How each moment gets completed depends on each individual person. So the film, although it’s materially the same set of images and sounds, should, ideally, provoke slightly different reactions from each person who sees it.” One part of what he’s saying – that not everyone sees the same film – is true whether you watch the film in a theatre or at home. But there’s something else when you watch a film with hordes of strangers. You become aware of their reactions. As much as you want to see the movie through your eyes (and your eyes only), a live audience shapes your viewing experience in ways both subtle and obvious.
The first time I watched Visaranai was at the Mumbai film festival. Festival audiences are cinephiles, and respect for the medium (and the fellow film lover) is an ingrained trait. The film was visceral, so you could hear a few gasps, but there was nothing to distract the audience, nothing to break the spell that you were the only one in the theatre and they were playing the movie just for you. I watched the film again during its wide release two Fridays ago, and it felt quite different. The story has to do with four Tamils who work in Guntur and are arrested when a local big shot’s house is burgled. They are tortured beyond belief, and then told that if they confess to the crime before the judge, they will be let off with a small sentence. The four men agree, but in court they take their shirts off and show the judge how badly they’ve been beaten. The audience roared in approval, and I realised how this was now playing like a “hero moment.” In Mumbai, this scene was about a pathetic nobody making a last-ditch effort to save himself. In Chennai, the same moment played as though he was slyly outwitting the bad guys and making a dash for freedom. Same scene. Very different feel.
This is why the concept of a “DVD review” is popular abroad. Because the print review that appears at the time of a film’s release is either from a press screening or a visit to the theatre, and it’s a very different movie on your DVD. I’ve seen people watch a movie on YouTube, many years after its release, and then come back to my review and say their experience was totally different. Well, what did they expect? Again from Murch, this time from his foreword to Anand Pandian’s Reel World: On Location in Kollywood: “In a single large theatre… you might find an audience of 600, with an average age of 25 years, which works out to 15000 years of human experience… Fifteen thousand years of hopes, dreams, tragedy, success, plain, pleasure… all jumbled into the theatre waiting for a thin beam of light…” How can individual response not be influenced by the collective?
India is especially interesting in this regard. We get worked up about everything. The recent Bangalore Naatkal has a scene where a husband and wife make love. He touches her hand. She turns. It’s all quick cuts, we see nothing below the neck. And yet, people were whistling, commenting. I’m sure there are others like me, who have trained themselves to shut out this sort of thing – to the extent that it’s possible. But for the rest of the audience, the spell is broken, the mood is destroyed. I hate watching serious, talky films (like Bridge of Spies) with an Indian audience. They’ve been trained by our mainstream cinema to expect loud dialogues, loud background scores, sometimes both at once – and they don’t have the patience for other kinds of films. Conversely, I would hate to watch an Indian masala movie in a theatre abroad. The hollering, the whistling, the hero-worshipping – the film plays so strangely without any of this. You feel like the Kamal Haasan character in Pushpak / Pesum Padam, who cannot sleep without the dishoom-dishoom sounds emanating from his local movie house. Our default setting is noise.
An edited version of this piece can be found here. Copyright ©2016 The Hindu. This article may not be reproduced in its entirety without permission. A link to this URL, instead, would be appreciated.
Ram Murali
February 13, 2016
Our default setting is noise.
–> That one line crisply summarizes your write-up. I once watched an illuminating interview with late actor/director Manivannan where he mentioned that while (in the 1982-86 time frame) he worked with Ilayaraja, he could afford to have meaningful silences in the scenes and would work those moments into the script with the full confidence that Raja would work his bgm magic. And, he mentioned that it was only after he started working with other music directors that he felt the need to make his films talky to the point that it was like a play. He rued it but said that he almost felt helpless. I think that background score is an integral part of our movies but I sometimes wonder whether it is used as a crutch to ensure that too many silences are not leading to catcalls and hoots in the theatres. I am sure these Directors have seen silent moments get destroyed in the theaters with whistles and loud comments…
My favorite (I guess it was not a “favorite” when it happened but I can laugh about it now) example of this is the climax of Alai Payuthey where Madhavan keeps saying, “Muzhichikka Sakthi.” When I watched the film in the theater, amidst the silence, someone commented, “Yendhru Shalini Yendhru” (imitating the scene from the climax of “Anjali”) and man, was the mood destroyed or what! People laughed out so loud for that one. Unfortunate but hey, that’s part and parcel of watching a film in my favorite Devi theatre 🙂
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venkatesh
February 13, 2016
Absolutely spot-on.
I know you have an almost affectionate take on this.
Me, I would rather walk on hot-coals than watch English movies , except James Bond ones, with an Indian audience. They just won’t shut-up and the less said about the brats crying, running in the aisles, sniffling the better. In foreign cities with a sizeable Indian population a movie theatre becomes the place to meet, greet, catch-up and eat noisy food. (Think SouthHall, AMC Empire…). It is terrible.
This has sadly relegated me to the ranks of folks who are forced to watch movies on a small screen in the privacy of your room and films like Bridge of Spies, The Danish Girl and even Tamasha are far richer experiences for it.
The Indian default setting is not only noise its lack of empathy and common sense in a public space.
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Ram Murali
February 13, 2016
As a follow-up to my previous comment, I am sure Manivannan was DELIGHTED when he got a chance to work with Raja again in AP.
This scene is an example of Raja’s magic (esp. starting at the 2:00 min point)
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Iswarya
February 13, 2016
Even with different kinds of theatres, it’s a different experience! When I recently watched Irudhi Suttru on a weekday matinee, there were not much roars and whistles except for certain obvious cues like references to drinking (Beer in the meeting, Nasser’s quip about liver, etc.) and women – but catching the same movie on a weekend evening show was so much more “atmospheric.” There was much more of roars and chuckles, wolfwhistles and cackling – when that Hussain character tells Madhavan at the end, “Yenakku un moonjiye pudikkala” – somebody in my row bawled at the screen: “Yenakku kooda thaan da un moonjiye pudikkala!”
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Shalini
February 13, 2016
It’s purely coincidental, but I always have to wash my hair when a friend(s) suggests taking-in a movie together. :-\ I know it’s anti-social, but I really prefer to watch alone without someone whispering in my ear or pressing buttery pop-corn into my hands.
That said, I recently watched Kung Fu Panda 3 in a sold-out theater sitting sandwiched between my child and two little girls so small that they both fit in the enormous, stadium-style seats and – had a blast. It was like a chorus performance of laughter – the kids giggled at Po’s antics and the adults at all the sly pop-culture asides. Such fun!
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Anu Warrier
February 13, 2016
It is true what you say about the collective influencing the way you watch a film. But I disagree with you in that I wouldn’t like to watch any and all Indian masala film with an audience of the type you speak of. Yes, watching Dabang in the audience (even in the US) was an experience I wouldn’t have missed. The same with Piku because the audience, comprising a mix of adults, seniors and little children, were having such a fine time – nodding their heads at dialogues and situations that resonated with them, that I would never have had if I’d watched it in complete silence, isolated within a crowd. On the other hand, I hated watching Tamasha in India with an audience who were so loud that I would miss the dialogues.
But yes, generally speaking, I agree that watching a ‘talky’ movie with a loud audience is a pain, while watching a masala film in complete silence would make me think I’d been entombed.
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the beard guy
February 13, 2016
Reblogged this on The Diary Of A Philosophical Freak.
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Dhanda Soru
February 13, 2016
“How can individual response not be influenced by the collective?”
Sole reason why I prefer to watch films alone (at least on the first viewing). That said, there are some films that are best experienced in a theater with an Indian audience (aside from the usual masala fare). I remember watching “The Dark Knight Rises” in Chennai and I thoroughly hated it (the experience) at first. The experience was similar to what you’d experience if you were watching an Ajith/Vijay masala padam. I came back home and I watched the film in a theater again. It made me want to book a flight to Chennai and watch the film in a theater there. I didn’t think much of the film itself, which I found to be bloated and too grandiose (for the lack of a better word), but if I given a choice between watching a similar film with a non-Indian crowd and an Indian one, I’d gladly go with the latter (though the crowd that I watched the film with seemed to be more, how do I put this, “refined” than the usual Indian crowd, so I guess that could’ve been a factor too).
However, the other kind of collective – family and friends – also have the capacity to influence your opinion of a film significantly. I remember watching “Nanbenda” with my parents last July, and found it to be utterly insufferable. A month later, I’d visited my grandparents in India. My grandfather had suffered a heart attack and as a result couldn’t really go outdoors much. We decided to watch the film one night, and he happened to enjoy it thoroughly (he was a fan of Santhanam). It was one of the last films I saw with him, as he passed away in October. Did his enjoyment of the film alter my opinion of the film significantly? Well, yes and no. As a piece of cinema, “Nanbenda” is first-rate dross, but I don’t find myself being nearly as critical of the film as I was when I first saw it. The other example I can think of is “Nimirnthu Nil”, which I found a chore to sit through, but it happened to be a film that my dad quite liked.
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Gayathri
February 13, 2016
This is in line with my watching Enthiran – unfortunately I watched it in Sathyam among a very sophisticated crowd. Thalaivar padatha whistle illama patha, padam patha feel e varala. Couldn’t help comparing my experience with what I went through when watching chandramukhi in Jayanthi theatre (single screen old style).
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Abishek
February 13, 2016
Great article BR, This is the reason why I hate watching proper horror films in Indian cinema halls.. I had a horrible experience while watching ‘The Conjuring’.. This also explains why there had been a lot of ‘horror-comedies’ over the past few years rather than proper-horror films .. guess the filmmakers have decided to replace those silences in horror films with laughter…. SIGH …
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olemisstarana
February 13, 2016
Snobs.
Just kidding, y’all.
But seriously. Got roped into watching “How to be Single” last night. Don’t ask. We were in a packed audience of mostly early 20s white women and then this bachelor party walks in, wearing “another one bites the dust” (How. Original.) T-Shirts and the groom wearing in a uh… breast-themed tiara. I am sure there was booze involved. Every time two of the main female characters had a heart to heart, these swell gentlemen, these examples of millennial finesse, these caviar dipped Brazil nuts in the peanut gallery would yell out “F**K HER RIGHT IN THE P***Y.” They weren’t escorted out until an hour into the film.
I’d take butter soaked whispers and screaming children any day.
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vijay
February 14, 2016
do you get good pakoras/samosas/tea in between films? illainna enna periya “festival” idhu.
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Swatkat
February 14, 2016
Agree to the point which was made on watching horror movies. Was watching one of the paranormal activity movies in satyam. When the ‘ghost’ was about to make an appearance someone from the audience shouted out “vandhutada namma velaayi”. Needless to say from that point I was more amused than being scared 🙂
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Honest Raj (formerly 'V'enkatesh)
February 14, 2016
Ram Murali: ‘Raja 1000’ effect, eh? 🙂
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Ram Murali
February 14, 2016
Honest Raj (formerly ‘V’enkatesh) — amam thalaivaa…I absolutely love Raja’s bgm. And, so many directors have mentioned how his bgm has helped their movies. I mean, I can’t imagine movies like Sethu, Aboorva SahodarargaL, Agni Natchathiram and Housefull without his bgm. (Giving these four examples to emphasize the stunning variety.)
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Honest Raj (formerly 'V'enkatesh)
February 14, 2016
Ram Murali: You talk about Sethu, AS, AN, etc., I can even listen to the scores of Pulan Visaranai and Captain Prabhakaran (this one is deadly) for over a 100 times straight!
Unfortunately, we live in an era where Anirudh & co. is celebrated as the ‘King of BGM’. 🙂
On a side note, are you a Parthiban fan?
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praneshp
February 15, 2016
Honest Raj : Anirdudh does make good BGMs for the kind of projects he works on. Not sure why you have to diss him to praise Raja.
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Ram Murali
February 15, 2016
Honest Raj – yeah absolutely. Captain Prabhakaran was awesome! “Chathriyan” was another favorite (from a BGM perspective).
“On a side note, are you a Parthiban fan?”
Exhibit A: My comments for BR’s Naanum Rowdy Thaan post (Actually bart’s responses to mine are a must-read!)
Exhibit B: My write-up on him:
http://thinkinggotloud.blogspot.com/2014/01/inspirations-13-of-25-ra-parthiban-film.html
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R
February 15, 2016
With so many movie buffs around, will not a poll on their favourite way to watch a movie, be interesting?
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Rahini David
February 15, 2016
Nice Topic. Nice Comments.
Incidentally, I thought of the Alaipayuthey Climax scene too but for a different reason. I saw Alaipayuthey with two cousins, a boy who was also seeing it for the first time and a girl who was seeing it for the second time.
Good Movie, but the climax was predictable. I knew that she will be fine and good as new. So I did not really have a lump in my throat. To be frank I was even a little bored. That was until the boy leaned over and asked the girl, “Sethuruvaala? (Will she die?)” and she gave a mournful nod. “Really?” I asked and she said “Yes”. I bought it. It totally changed the way I was taking the climax. The lump found its way to the throat.
What an idiot I am.
😀
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venkatesh
February 15, 2016
Something odd with the likes on the comments in this post.
Every single one of them has more dislikes than like.
Very odd this.
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Yossarian
February 15, 2016
@venkatesh – I was wondering the exact same thing! olemisstarana’s comment is barely hanging in there as the exception 🙂
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The Gypsy Girl
February 15, 2016
I love watching movies in the theatre and avoid watching something on the small screen if I can catch it on the big screen. At the same time, I have very low tolerance for noise – the kids running around, the not-so-muted whispers, the mobile phones ringing abruptly. I’d be so distracted and angry, it effectively ruined the movie for me.
Until I discovered the super-late night show in Delhi! I now go to shows that start at 10.45pm or later, and I go on a weekday. Last week, I went to a 11.45pm show of The Room. There are very few people in the theatre, and I guess they’re mostly people like me, who want a quiet, immersive experience at the theatre. It’s the best of both worlds!
Of course, I went for a matinee show on a Saturday afternoon for Bahubali.
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Deepak
February 15, 2016
I SO agree on your point about our default setting being noise. I remember watching Annabelle in the theater and on one side were the teens screaming and whistling when something scary happens and then right next to me was a 7-8 year old kid with his parents. The kid was complaining to his dad – “I’m scared dad”, and the dad was like “You were the one who wanted to see the move” – Parents of the year material right there!
I’ve since stopped seeing horror movies in the theater in India. Same thing in the US too – where a desi couple were chatting non-stop. On shushing them, the female was complaining “theatre main baat nahin kar sakte hain kya?” (can’t we talk in a theatre or what?) Arghhh!
Between the noise and cellphone glare, and the stupid decisions taken by our censors (half the dialogues in Deadpool, which was certified A was bleeped out) – and you end up wanting to just torrent all the movies and watch them at home.
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Honest Raj (formerly 'V'enkatesh)
February 15, 2016
Anirdudh does make good BGMs for the kind of projects he works on. Not sure why you have to diss him to praise Raja.
praneshp: Not sure I’ve ‘dissed’ him – I was rather talking about time. However, I strongly feel that he’s lagging behind his contemporaries – Yuvan, SN, Ghibran – in this aspect. Rahman is light-years ahead of him. And, there is Raja!
Oru Indhiya kudimagan idha kooda solla koodatha? Bharata maatave, so sad 😦
Btw, I do understand YMMV!
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Shreyansh Shukla (@Shr3yanshS)
February 15, 2016
I stopped watching movies that i feel require a certain degree of intelligence in theaters, after Phir Milenge. I went in, not expecting something great – after all, it had Salman, Jr B and Shilpa Shetty. But, the movie gradually sucked me in and I was really engrossed in it, when few of the guys in the crowd – started booing and passed comments like “shilpa ko liya, lekin ek bhi SCENE nahi dikaya, kya thakela picture hai”. It was beyond disgusting.
I think, times have changed though. 3 weeks ago, went for a Nana Patekar movie “Natsamrat” ( please dont miss it, its one of the best movies to come out in recent years) and there was no disturbance from the viewers at all
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Lavanya
February 15, 2016
@ Venkatesh: i now maintained the pattern by upping Rahini’s post. I really did like it 🙂
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Ravi K
February 15, 2016
I’ll share a few experiences here:
Brangan wrote: “Conversely, I would hate to watch an Indian masala movie in a theatre abroad. The hollering, the whistling, the hero-worshipping – the film plays so strangely without any of this.”
I sort of had this experience with “Enthiran.” First time I watched it was at the multiplex that plays Indian movies for Indian audiences (I live in the US). Although it was about a week after it had come out, it was still a decent crowd, though nothing like the first day, first show, I’m sure.
The second time I saw it was at an American theater that often shows independent, offbeat, and cult films. This was around the time when the clips of the insane climax became a viral hit. This was mostly an American audience, with a few Indian people there. Obviously these people had never heard of Rajini and weren’t fans, so the star moments didn’t particularly strike a chord. I do remember hearing some laughter during “Kadhal Anukkal,” with Rajini’s rather silly outfits and whatnot. But for the most part I think they enjoyed the plot, and of course, the terrific action sequences. Western audiences tend to be muted, even for big blockbusters anyways.
The third time I saw it as at a festival, and, as you noted festival audiences tend to be more muted and reverent.
—
“Baahubali,” premiere night showing. Telugu version, sold-out theatre. The crowd went nuts. They were obviously Prabhas fans because they cheered and clapped when he first appeared, and a few other times.
Tamil version, a week or two later. Smaller crowd. Prabhas has no real following with Tamil audiences, so no big reaction to him from the audience, although they seemed to enjoy the film. I still enjoyed it the second time around, but watching the Telugu version with that audience was more fun.
—
“Lingaa.” Brookfields mall in Coimbatore. I happened to be in India when this was released, and I was eager to see it in a theater, since I hadn’t seen a Thalaivar film in India theatrically since “Veera.” I had this plan in mind before the film turned out to be such a flop. I saw it maybe a week after it was released, so by then word had spread of it’s awfulness. There was an okay, but not huge crowd, and they didn’t particularly respond to any of the masala moments. I suspect that they were people like me who wanted to see for themselves how bad this film was. During that flashback stretch I could feel the boredom in the theater, or maybe I was projected my own boredom onto everyone else.
I will quote the AV Club’s review of the flop “The Oogieloves” here:
http://www.avclub.com/article/something-close-to-madness-case-file-24-ithe-oogie-85088
“I imagine most screenings of Oogieloves played to empty theaters, where its constant pleas to an audience that did not exist must have played like something close to madness.”
—
“Saathiya.” For the most part the audience was fine, though when SRK appeared for his cameo at a serious moment, a few of the girls in the row in front of me hollered and whistled. Indian audiences seem to have no attention span when it comes to context and mood, and they only have Pavlovian responses based on any given moment in a film, no matter what the film. That’s fine for a masala film, but for “Saathiya?” Come on, now.
—
“Spectre,” at a theater in London. During the opening sequence in Mexico and the opening credits I imagined that if this were an Indian masala film the audience would be roaring. For films like this I actually wish the audience was more vocal. This is 007, not a Bergman film!
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Ram Murali
February 15, 2016
Honest Raj – I just realized with your comment that it’s impossible to not smile whenever a Counds reference comes up!
By the way, here’re two more examples (both from Chinna Counder; just sheer coincidence that I am picking a Vijaykanth movie for you, Honest Raj!) of how Raja’s bgm can add to a scene. First is a comic scene. Notice how perfectly the bgm blends in with the passing of the matchbox.
Start watching at the 10:32 min point
Second is a pathos sequence. Here again, it’s absolutely lovely how the bgm is perfectly in sync with the camera movements.
Start watching at the 4:10 min point
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K.
February 16, 2016
“I’m sure there are others like me, who have trained themselves to shut out this sort of thing – to the extent that it’s possible.”
I’m really curious to know how you trained yourself. Because this kinda thing – the distraction – is precisely what makes me reluctant to watch films in theatres.
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Rahini David
February 16, 2016
K: This might help.
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Rahini David
February 16, 2016
Ram Murali: My contribution for the category “Awesomeness of Illayaraja”. 🙂
Pure Gold.
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Ram Murali
February 17, 2016
Rahini David – super situation song, one that I am going to change a little to sing to BR –
“Anney Anney BR anney namma blogu nalla blogu ipo romba maari poachu nney!
Adha sonnaa naan joker-u…
Naan sollaati naan safer-u…hey hey hey…”
To pick a couple of lines from the song…
“avanga avanga ishtam pole…
thumbs downu kaaturaaynge…”
“paeru ilaama thittu kedaikudhu…
thittoda serupu parakudhu…
aalu yaarunu paaka ponen…
….
….
anonymous-a odi poitaange…hey hey hey!”
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Honest Raj (formerly 'V'enkatesh)
February 17, 2016
Ram Murali: ‘Counds’ is something that I’m hearing for the first time. 🙂
Here’s one from Amaidhipadai, since you quoted Manivannan. What Anu had conveyed (about casteism) in the ‘Not a black-and-white issue’ post is clearly explained in this clip – watch out for the BGM from 1:40 and 2:12:
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MANK
February 17, 2016
I don’t usually check out downvotes and upvotes on this blog. i don’t bother about my own downvotes, as i know my comments may not be to everyone’s liking.. But seeing Rahini’s attempt at helping someone getting so many downvotes is crazy. what the hell is going on ?
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Rahini David
February 17, 2016
MANK: Keeping a low profile, eh? I was thinking I had hurt a sensitive soul or two
…. or eighteen. 😀
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Honest Raj (formerly 'V'enkatesh)
February 17, 2016
Ha, interestingly, the video that I’ve shared talks about ‘Kalla’ vote as well. 🙂
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Ram Murali
February 17, 2016
Honest Raj – my friends and I are huge fans of Counds. I don’t know where it started but all of us in our group refer to him as Counds.
Yes, Amaidhi Padai is a near-classic. Satyaraj Sr. was amazing. The scene you mentioned is one of several that had memorable lines. In fact, if you watch AP, you’ll realize that even smaller scenes have several sharp lines (written by Manivannan). Here’s an example. Talking about the death of his daughter (who died during childbirth) SS Chandran says, “Naan petha kozhandhaiya selavu kanakula ezhudhitu, ava pettha kozhandhaiya varavu kanakula ezhudhittu, andha oora vittey kilambiten…”
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MANK
February 17, 2016
Rahini, oh not exactly . was busy travelling & working. just back from a job trip- which i turned in to a Brangan deaddiction trip 🙂 god knows i needed it. and doing the first thing to do, checking out my beloved blog. hope everything is well around here. i see that Brangan is out, so no new reviews eh? was just checking the latest posts one by one. hope my absence did not dampen your appreciation for the blog 🙂
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MANK
February 17, 2016
Ram Murali,Honest Raj. it is ironic you people bring in amaithipadai in a blog titled People power 😀 Actually the election scene that you posted is one of the greatest masala moments in films imo. you are right about the BGM, But man sathyaraj -aah what a performance.he makes the transformation of the character so believable.
As for Raja effect with BGM score, well each one of his collaborations with Kamal is special. but Guna is a particular favorite. the way he uses the temple sounds and the divine mood he creates with that – all throughout the film- God… beyond words
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Ram Murali
February 17, 2016
MANK: “Guna”-va nyabaga paduthaathenge… venaam venaam…valikudhu… aludhuruven….!! What divine acting by the GOD in the temple scene! Kamalahasa… kolriye pa expression-a vechu…
I once watched this movie with one of my friends who said, “Hey, does the music (during the title sequence) not have an eerie mix of divinity and pathos?” I suddenly realized (having seen the movie a number of times prior to that) how perfect the theme music was. And notice how the last frame of the movie has the same theme music slightly altered to fit the somber mood of the scene.
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MANK
February 18, 2016
Ram Murali, sorry for killing you with Kamal 🙂 Ebut you brought Raja BGM in to this thread no ? so now suffer 🙂
I actually wanted to talk about virumandi BGM, but i guess we have discussed Virumandi a lot recently. aana film change panniyitten 🙂 But man what a score and what a movie. starting with a spectacular brian de palmesque tracking shot through the streets and ending with that epic jump from the cliff – and yes theme music slightly altered to fit the somber mood. only Raja right ?-
Hell whatever happened to Santhanabharathi, who directed Guna and Mahanadhi. two best Kamal films and performances. of course there is no question that Kamal put his personal stamp on both films, but still.
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brangan
February 19, 2016
Wrote about the good (and the redundant) parts of the Guna score in a comment under this review:
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Honest Raj (formerly 'V'enkatesh)
February 19, 2016
MANK: I always wondered why the camera (in the song) unduly focuses on the girl’s breasts. Later when I got to know the actual reason (through some YT genius), I was awestruck. Having said that, I seriously doubt it was a Santhana Bharathi touch. 🙂
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Ram Murali
February 22, 2016
MANK, Honest Raj, Rahini David and other Raja worshippers – don’t miss watching Gowtham Menon’s interview of da King. It was telecast in 2 parts over the weekend. The discussions were really insightful. When Raja played “Uravugal thodarkathai” on his harmonium…B L I S S.
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hari
February 23, 2016
The videos for the interview are here – http://www.hotstar.com/tv/ilaiyaraaja-ayiram/7361/ilaiyaraaja-the-living-legend/1000085476
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Meghnath
February 23, 2016
Hi Baradwaj…What happened to your reviews ? Are you on another break ?
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oracle86
March 3, 2016
This is probably why I prefer to watch movies on a weekday morning or a very late night show to minimise the chances of distractions. And i absolutely dread going to the movies during the weekends here in Delhi. Like one of the posters above, I had gone to watch The Conjuring with very high hopes, but unfortunately the experience was ruined cos of some college kids who seemed to be laughing all the time.
I also am very picky about which sort of movies to go for with my colleagues. They aren’t as crazy about movies as I am, and this was something I discovered to my detriment when they got bored and started chatting while we were watching Lootera. I was so engrossed in it that I got irritated and actually shifted to a seat a couple of rows ahead to savour the film. So since then, we only go together to watch masala films. 🙂
I did my undergrad in Pondy and so used to come to Chennai about during the weekends. Reading books at Spencer Plaza’s massive Landmark outlet and then movies at Satyam – that was my Sunday routine. And perhaps the tint of nostalgia makes everything seem better, but I truly loved those trips. Still get goosebumps thinking of the day I went to watch The Dark Knight – being a huge NolanFan, I and a few of my friends who were diehard comic book fans were hellbent on getting first day first show tickets by hook or crook, and somehow against all odds, we managed it. And what an experience it was. Not just us, but it seemed like the whole audience were hardcore fans. The conversations we had about the comics/mythos/characters with total strangers during the intermission – it was like we were all on a collective high that day!!!
And Satyam was also the venue of one of my weirdest theatrical experiences. Being a huge Wachowskis fan, I had decided to check out Speedracer. I vividly remember sitting next to a family with three kids, and I also remember half the theatre literally walking out within the first half hour. It was just that divisive. But man, those three kids had the ball of their life that day. And sitting next to them, I embraced my inner child and had an awesome time, just cheering during those insane races and gawking at those almost psychedelic sequences. 🙂
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