Spoilers ahead…
If you’re a fan of the loosu ponnu character in Tamil cinema, you’re in for a treat with AR Rajasekar’s Uyire Uyire. For the price of one movie, you get two of them. The first loosu ponnu – let’s say LP-1 – appears in the hero-introduction scene at a basketball court, wearing a T-shirt painted with an outsized pair of lips. LP-1 hails from a long line of women who I think are meant to be sexually liberated but, seen through the prism of the film and the people around, come off as slightly slutty. Recall Poornima Jayaram in Thangamagan, who said anyone was free to kiss her as long as they didn’t touch her. This one says she’ll lock lips with anyone who can dunk the ball three times, within three minutes. I’m not judging her. But it just seems that there are better ways to get your jollies than to offer your lips to a bunch of guys who seem to be rehearsing steps for the inevitable TASMAC song, one of whom brags that he’s such a good player that he’ll give a lassi to Messi. Dude, it isn’t even the same sport!
LP-2, of course, is the heroine, Priya (Hansika Motwani). “Bubbly,” I think, is the term they use for these characters, though if you ran into one on the street, you’d probably inch backwards, slowly, very slowly, taking care not to look at them directly in the eye. From an auto at a traffic light, Priya sees an ad for gold bangles. She calls her mother excitedly – though you may point out, rightly so, that the adverb is redundant, because LPs do everything excitedly – and says she’s going to get married, right there, right then. Because she loves bangles. Because she loves the man who will buy her those bangles. The mother laughs indulgently at the other end, and calls her a “valayal paithiyam” – though you may point out, rightly so, that the word paithiyam is redundant, because LPs do everything with the mental faculties of someone who’s sprung free from a straitjacket.
I suppose I have to get down to the story. Priya meets Rahul (Siddhu, who speaks Tamil about as well as Hansika does) at an airport. While waiting for the flight, she takes a bite from a sandwich. He takes the chair across hers and takes a bite from his sandwich. She realises he’s going to copy her every move, so, with the gleam of Sherlock Holmes who’s just figured out a way to outfox Professor Moriarty, she takes out her lipstick and colours her lips. As a retort, he takes out a packet of ketchup and squirts the condiment all over his lips. Astute Tamil-film watchers will quickly realise that true love is right around the corner – I mean, if these two aren’t made for each other, then who is? But that development will have to wait, at least until after the scene where, inside the flight, her top hikes up as she’s trying to fit her bag into the overhead compartment and she catches him eyeing her exposed waist. Somehow, this does not dissuade her from wanting to sightsee Goa with him, excitedly.
After much sightseeing, we get to the crux of the plot, which has to do with Priya’s brother. He used to harass Rahul’s sister in college. Now they’re both married to other people. But he wants nothing to do with her family. And we get to the scene where the enraged brother follows Rahul and Priya on the highway, hoping to catch them. You’d think at least this would bring out in Priya a different shade of emotion, but no. She’s… excited. She’s never been in a chase and she wants a background score, so she switches on the radio. It’s Lungi dance. Rahul objects. A channel change results in Aaluma doluma, which makes Priya even more excited. I’d like to say more about this remake of the Telugu hit Ishq, but then I’d have to talk about the scene where Rahul pees into the brother’s petrol tank. It may be a visual metaphor for the movie.
KEY:
- Uyire Uyire = I want those three hours of my life back
- loosu ponnu = manic pixie girl… the manic to pixie ratio being roughly 99:1
- Thangamagan = see here
- valayal paithiyam = someone crazy about bangles
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.
arielsomebody
April 2, 2016
ha ha ha ha ha ha! my views exactly about LPs.
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arielsomebody
April 2, 2016
i like severely sarcastic BR a LOT
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Vivek P
April 2, 2016
“But then I’d have to talk about the scene where Rahul pees into the brother’s petrol tank. It may be a visual metaphor for the movie”
Ha ha ha.. Epic!
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Maru
April 2, 2016
Brangan, please don’t stop watching and more importantly reviewing bad movies, I beg ya – they be the best of the best. Couldn’t stop chuckling through this one.
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fan of brangan
April 2, 2016
in which brangan takes one for us..
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shaviswa
April 2, 2016
Oh my GOD!!!! That bad?
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Arsenal Man
April 2, 2016
2 minutes silence after a 10 minute (hangover of troubleshooting performance timing issues through this week) non stop lolz. Thank you BR for this – after a long week at work. This is as good as a Thomas cook ticket to Goa.
“She realises he’s going to copy her every move, so, with the gleam of Sherlock Holmes who’s just figured out a way to outfox Professor Moriarty” Is this what you meant?
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sanjana
April 2, 2016
Read the review just to lighten my mood. Its as good as Tera Surroor review which has become a benchmark. LP will frighten any normal person and her mother will do the same. I suspect her mother also must have been one LP once upon a time.
Bracing for your review of KI and Ka.
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madhu
April 2, 2016
ISHQ is very well made movie in telugu. I think Vikram is very promising talent. looking farward to read ur review on his upcoming 24.
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Anon
April 2, 2016
“I think, is the term they use for these characters, though if you ran into one on the street, you’d probably inch backwards, slowly, very slowly, taking care not to look at them directly in the eye”
Class A comedy.
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sachita
April 2, 2016
This is a laugh riot! Thank god I read the review at home. This movie also has loosu payyan? Also Hansika motwani gets the lifetime lp award I would think just based on your reviews.
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bubblegumananda
April 2, 2016
Sir, Where’s your leg? Ur sense of humour laced with sarcasm, deserves a new word in the dictionary, your style of critiquing needs a new award category. Thanks for making us laugh so loud!
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igsram233
April 2, 2016
Uyire Uyire = I want those three hours of my life back
My thoughts entirely!!!!
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Honest Raj (formerly 'V'enkatesh)
April 2, 2016
Looking at the title, is anybody reminded of the Vadivelu-Parthiban scene in Vetri Kodi Kattu?
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venkatesh
April 2, 2016
I thought Miss. Motwani was at the top of the chain and not required to act garbage like this or am i wrong?
Weird, how heroines dont seem to have a particular “level” to work with.
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Meghnath
April 2, 2016
hahahhahahahahhahaha !!!! That was a so awesome… By the way one question BR, who decides which movie you need to watch and which one you can skip ? Is it completely up to you or you are required to review a certain number of movies in a month ? I am assuming it is the latter, else why on earth would you be watching a movie where hansika is the most recognized “actor”. !! 😀
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Rahini David
April 2, 2016
Honest raj: “uyire uyire thapichu epadiyaavathu odividu. Variyea aiyaiyo Variyea ”
Lol. It goes with a line in the review too. 🙂
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Iswarya
April 2, 2016
Honest Raj/Rahini: What scene is this? Can’t recall instantly..
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Honest Raj (formerly 'V'enkatesh)
April 2, 2016
Iswarya: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qn5ijIqwm88
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Kurinji
April 3, 2016
Ha ha . I haven’t watched the movie . And in all likelihood , never will . But what’s with the obsession of Tamil cinema with loosu ponnnus. The barf worthy characterisation of jenelia in santosh subramaniam was unsurprisingly well received by popular audience . I see more of them in Tamil and Telugu movies but not in Malayalam . Is it a cultural thing ? A bimbo with the mental faculties of a 3 year old conveniently euphemised as the pure innocent soul is the ideal type of an average Tamil guy I guess.
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brangan
April 3, 2016
Comment from Hindu web site 🙂
I just now read the review not to see the film but just to compare film reviews appeared years back in THE HINDU. I am unable to understand what Bharadwaj Rangan is trying to convey about the film. As a reader i expect the review to contain about the quality of direction, photography, music, and ofcourse acting of the main characters. . But the review does not contain such details. Rather it contains certain jargon of words which only the writer can understand Why can.’t the review be simple which on reading will give a glympse about the film
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Ravi K
April 3, 2016
Ugh, when will these folks understand that movie reviews aren’t just a laundry list, separating out things like direction, photography, music, etc.? Perhaps this kind of reaction to your reviews shouldn’t be surprising, given that the audience largely expects movies to be delivery devices for colors and lights and music and dumb jokes, and to hell with thinking about story or characters.
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mainland
April 3, 2016
kurinji
“But what’s with the obsession of Tamil cinema with loosu ponnnus”..
Mani Ratnam made some of his heroines loosu and cute and child like to make the otherwise not so likable women characters in his movies more appealing to the audience. I think he made them do stuff like smoking cigarettes(amala)…being forward and making the first move with guys…refusing to comsummate the marriage (revathy)…premarital sex(nithya)….going against their parents….etc and wanted to make these charachters palatable for the tamil audience. If the heroines who do these things are infantilized , then the men in the audience would look at all these actions with indulgence reserved for cute kids and wouldn’t judge these women as bitches…And I think other directors followed cue and adopted just the cuteness and loosu-ness and magnified it to the infinity…
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Aravind Ramachandran
April 4, 2016
Another good one! Stick this style please (not that you’re going to change, just scared you might give into market demands), there are plenty of jokers analysing acting, direction, etc. for these kinds of movies, assuming in the first place they exist!
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Iswarya
April 4, 2016
Honest Raj: Haha.. Thanks for that link.
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vijay
April 4, 2016
so,the next temple in TN is for Namitha or Hansika?
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ThouShaltNot
April 5, 2016
so,the next temple in TN is for Namitha or Hansika?
Ah, the deity tricks campaign ? Granted seeing is believing, but I hear that those we worship are manifestations of the same underlying concept. Let not distinctions without a difference (no?) trigger a religious war.
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brangan
August 9, 2016
For all fans 🙂
http://www.rediff.com/movies/report/quiz-how-well-do-you-know-hansika-motwani/20160809.htm
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Rahini David
August 9, 2016
I know someone who is sure to have got all answers right. coughBRcough
😀
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Iswarya
August 9, 2016
Oh, so today is the anniversary of that great missed opportunity? How sad, BR! 😀
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brangan
August 9, 2016
This day, every year, I get to recall Venkatesh’s epic comment from here, which is easily among the top 10 comments on this blog ever 🙂
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Raj
August 10, 2016
Loosu Penne Loosu Penne Loosu Penne loosu paiyan un mela adhan loosa sutharan!!! This should have been the music when Madam walks into the interview room and you are waiting with a mike!!! Cha miss panniteengale Rangan….
Would have been an epic interview– So you did judge Hansika based on her roles and rejected the interview offer 😉
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MANK
August 10, 2016
i found this really funny bit on the net. perhaps this is the perfect place to post it 🙂
P.S. Dedicated to all those who think interviewing actresses are easy 😀
http://indianexpress.com/article/trending/trending-in-india/renuka-shahanes-conversation-with-a-journalist-is-so-funny-its-going-viral-2963812/
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brangan
March 28, 2020
Got this from a PR today. Some relief in these dark times!!!
First South Indian actress to get her own GIF @ihansika
Here you go…Use the below link
https://giphy.com/HansikaMotwani/
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Thupparivaalan
March 29, 2020
brangan: She’s such a beauty!
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brangan
March 29, 2020
Thupparivaalan: Hence the gif, no? Enjaai 🙂
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Honest Raj
March 29, 2020
My ‘occasional’ laptop wallpaper while in college. 🙂
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