Spoilers ahead…
So we wait for the hero-introduction scene. Maybe he’ll smash through a wall and land a punch on a villain who is extorting money from slum-folk. Maybe he’ll ride in on a bike, in slo-mo, the scene lasting long enough for fans to expend all the wind in their lungs through wolf-whistles. But no. When we first meet Joseph Kuruvilla (Vijay) in Theri, directed by Atlee, he’s bent behind his bike, fixing it. Beside him, his daughter Nivi (Nainika, a cute kid who’s asked to overplay the cuteness; your opinion on her performance may depend on how many spoons of sugar you take with your tea) stamps her foot impatiently. Then, a car speeds past a puddle nearby, and the water splashes on her. This is it, we think. Joseph Kuruvilla’s face will appear. He’ll give chase. He’ll break the driver’s bones. Or at least leave an impression of his fingerprints on the driver’s cheek. We get the face. We get the chase. And we get a tame finish, with the driver being asked to apologise. What the…
Instantly, we know the story. Any film in which a mass hero is a mouse in the early reels will feature a flashback in which we see him as a tiger, and then a second flashback in which we see why this tiger transformed into a mouse. Atlee’s screenplay checks all the boxes, and we’re checking these boxes ten minutes ahead of him. But that’s not the problem. We don’t go to these movies expecting finely etched narrative arcs and convincing characters. Though, ideally, we should. (And there have been masala movies that are more than just a loose collection of fan-appeasing moments.) We should find it funny that, after a boisterous song in which the heroine sings oosi vedi naandhaan oodhuvathi needhan, we are abruptly ushered into a super-heavy scene where a father wails about his missing daughter. Or take the stretch where Annie (Amy Jackson) discovers that Joseph was lying when he said he couldn’t speak Malayalam. (The early parts of Theri are set in Kerala.) We should protest at the repeat of the shot where Joseph told her he could speak the language. We should be offended at being taken for such idiots that we cannot recall a plot point that played out five minutes ago.
But we let all of this pass because what we look for are the mass moments, the moments that creep past the logic centres in the brain and affect us almost atavistically. Like the one in which several goons are taught a lesson in a third-standard classroom. Like the bit with Vijay dancing to a Dhanush song. Like the interval moment at the bridge. Like the moment where a just-orphaned kid takes a Five Star bar out of his pocket. And I’m sure the legions of Atlee’s young fans, the ones who fell hard for his earlier film Raja Rani, are going to make screensavers of this line: Love solla vekka padaravan vaazhave vekka padaravan. But there aren’t enough of these moments for such a long, predictable movie that keeps reminding you of Chatriyan and Baasha and Ramana and a hundred other tiger-turned-mouse-turned-tiger sagas.
Even the questions that run through our heads are predictable. With all the money at their disposal, why aren’t the action scenes better? How long are we going to keep countering dishoom with dishoom? Where are the nail-biting thrills in the stretch where a school bus filled with kids veers off into a river? Why are GV Prakash’s songs so unmemorable, and when are they going to find a choreographer who can really do justice to Vijay’s extraordinary dancing abilities? The casting of the great director Mahendran as the antagonist sounds great in theory, but why is the character so ineffective? What are the Censor’s Board’s criteria for awarding a U certificate? This film has a line where a forensic examiner speaks of rapists eradicating traces of semen by violating the victim with a rusty iron rod. There’s a scene where a gun hovers over an infant’s head. Men are found with their genitals lopped off? Which part of all this screams “this is a movie for the entire family”? At least the question of why there isn’t much comedy finds an easy answer. Once you cast Amy Jackson as a schoolteacher in a small town in Kerala, the laughs come automatically. At one point, she asks Joseph, “Malayalam theriyadha?” Lady, you can barely get by in Tamil, and now we have to buy you as a specialist in the southern languages?
Vijay works best in the light-comic zone of a Thuppaki or a Puli, and he totally sells the scene where he charms the family of the girl he loves (Samantha). But Atlee keeps nudging the actor into heavy-duty dramatic zones, with an eye on the section of the audience we like to call thaaikulam. (If P Vasu made an action movie, it’d feel like Theri.) The hero sheds tears of sorrow for the rape victim. He sheds tears of joy when his little girl is born. He loves loves loves his mother (Radhika, in one of the most grab-the-cheque-and-run roles of her career). I’m not saying you cannot find a place for these sentiments in a mass-hero movie, but the film ends up schizophrenic trying to balance them with the more macho stuff the actor’s fans want. So after all those tears, we end up with the hero as the ghost who walks, a phantom who appears out of nowhere to dole out justice. Someone like Netaji, we’re told, whose death remains unverified and who could be doing the kind of villain-dispatching the hero does here. In Kollywood, it’s just a little leap from INA to WTF.
KEY:
- Theri = Vijay-ness
- oosi vedi naandhaan oodhuvathi needhan = I am a bomb, you are my lighter
- Raja Rani = see here
- Love solla vekka padaravan vaazhave vekka padaravan = If you’re ashamed to declare your love, you’re ashamed to live.
- “Malayalam theriyadha?” = Don’t you speak Malayalam?
- Thuppaki = see here
- Puli = see here
- thaaikulam = the womenfolk in the audience
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.
harish ram
April 14, 2016
BR the shining light in this dark age of mindless fan following. justice prevails in some manner somehow!
PS: i think Atlee is going to be the Rohit Shetty of tamil cinema – the movies are going to be BS and it will be big hits thanks to the bullet points everyone likes in it. Dear Atlee please make your Dilwale asap
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Ana
April 14, 2016
loved the line “vijay’s extraordinary dancing abilities”..it will be a shame if it is not tapped by good choreographers before he gets too old (though he doesnt seem to age)… combinations with Raju Sundaram, his sishyas, Prabhu Deva etc. have been so banal.. only the lawrence combo felt like an improvised version…
i dont watch vijay’s movies (unless if it is a decent director like Murugadoss)..but always admired his unmatched (at least in Tam films) dancing-for-movies ability..
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Ankit Barlota
April 14, 2016
Hi Baddie,
Always been a fan of your writing. While your writing is impressive, these days your thoughts aren’t. Why I am saying this you dont judge two movies of similar heroes and templates with different yardsticks. You should have gone with the same mindset for Theri as with Vedalam. No, I am not anyone’s fan. But the reviews of both these movies show how biased you are. or atleast you look like. Not done!! Thanks.
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Anon
April 14, 2016
Does it have a mass hero?
Does it have a mass story?
Did they host a grand audio release function?
Then lets give them “U” because even if “U/A” is granted parents are anyway going to bring their kids.
Hey this movie has smooga karuthukkal so it must be for the whole family. #cbfclogic
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Siddharth K
April 14, 2016
Now that this generation has gotten aware of Mahendran(in a heavily underused role though), I request them to look into NenjathaiKilladhey, Uthiripookal, Metti,etc
P.S: Nenjathai Killadhey laid the paid for Mouna Ragam and later on, Raja Rani imo.
The trailer ruined it for me. In any case, there is a wafer thin material. Why ruin them by making it so obvious in the trailer? As Steve Martin used to say “These days the trailer spoils it for me…even if I had read the book 😛 ”
Maybe this is one of those movies where we know they are predictable but still watch them for those punchy mass catering scenes.
Also would like to know how this Samantha flashback would fare in parallel with Yennai Arindhaal’s. Both seemed pretty obvious to me. (Yennai Therindhaal? 😛 )
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kalpeshjain22
April 14, 2016
Do reviews for these films too require a ‘spoilers ahead’ ? 🙂 and is GV’s work that bad, it beimg his 50th film? what about samantha?
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mrinalnarayan
April 14, 2016
“Instantly, we know the story. Any film in which a mass hero is a mouse in the early reels will feature a flashback in which we see him as a tiger, and then a second flashback in which we see why this tiger transformed into a mouse”
Killed it… ROFLing
When the masala movie is not really funny, We will instantly know your review is going to make up for everything we missed 😀
Another “Theri” write up
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Ganesh
April 14, 2016
hey BR, just realized that there is a video of the review as well on the Hindu website. You should post it here too! 🙂
http://www.thehindu.com/features/cinema/cinema-reviews/theri-film-review-this-man-is-from-mass/article8476121.ece?homepage=true
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Avinash Iyer
April 14, 2016
An unshaven, unkempt Vijay? I think that itself tells me how exactly the movie is going to be!!!
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udhaysankar
April 14, 2016
And it was tax-exempted.
Ghilli remains his best movie, till date.
Would have loved to see him a cool-suave action movie like yohan. Shame that it didn’t get to happen. Would have been so much fun.
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Anaz
April 14, 2016
Hi Sir,
I have written my review, your view on this plsss.
THERI – A commercial COP story with power packed 1st half followed by regular revenge drama in the 2nd half makes it a pucca family entertainer. Vijay’s charisma elevates this movie to another level in spite of a being a regular COP vs Villain chase story.
“+” – Vijay – What the fans expect from their favorite hero? More screen presence, Mass scenes, Dance, Comedy, Fight, Emotional connect, romance and being a family man! Anything else, more than this? And Vijay does everything, I mentioned above and moreover the fans will be happy to see their hero in screen 99% of this movie. Vijay sticks to his regular formula and it provides the result. Have to appreciate his looks and physic! At 41, Innum kuda college studenta nadikalam pola!
People may say he is doing stereotyped roles but he does what he does best. He might not be a Sachin, who might have all cricketing shots in his kitty but he is like Dhoni, has some favorite shots and area, where he dominates and wins effortlessly.
Atlee- This guy has some amazing potential and sure shot he might be a Shankar or Murugadhoss in future, the director we look up to. People may say it’s a combination of many movies especially Sattriyan. But his screenplay and dialogues makes a huge difference here. I didn’t feel bored in first half for a minute too. The way he uses Mottai Rajendiran is the best example of his skills. In Raja rani, he made an impact with film lovers and now he continues his good form with Theri too. Kudos to Atlee, for adding some anti-social incidents like TCS gang rape incident in Chennai, Child trafficking into the plot and thereby giving as message through it.
Nainika – Meena’s daughter, she is the real heroine of this movie. Her innocent acting and dialogues was a treat to watch. Hope, she will be doing rounds as her mother and lets expect she pairs with Vijay later like Rajini- Meena combo tongue emoticon!
Samantha and Amy – Samantha has done her job pretty well and she had more scope for acting and shaking legs with Vijay. This is the first film I felt her voice was okayish tongue emoticon! Congrats for her first HIT after Kathi in tamil. Amy on the other hand does not have a great role to perform and her Raangu song too comes after the movie ends. Her wiggu hair too doesn’t suit her face tongue emoticon!
Mahendran sir- I have huge respect for him as I loved his directed movies. His acting venture must be appreciated and his dialogue delivery was natural. Happy that, we didn’t get a chance to hear the North villains and their dubbed voices tongue emoticon!
Radhika – Her role was small but she rocked with her expressions! After all, we can be happy that we didn’t see the same old Saranya as mother for this Character, which might suit her too.
GV- His 50th movie and he strikes gold with his BG for the mass scenes and elevates higher. Felt some of his songs reminded me of many other songs of past too.” En Jeevan song” reminded me of “Vizhigalil oru vanavil” of Deivathirumagan movie!
George C Williams (Cameraman) – Very good picturization of the scenes and he is simply the backbone of this movie. Visuals was a treat to watch.
“-“ – Other casts- Prabhu was used as a uppuku chappaani! We could easily guess what role he is playing in this movie to eliminate the villain. High time, he does roles like Sathyaraj. Kaali venkat too has abundance of potential but was used effectively for a scene only.
Song backdrops and sets – Surprised with the sets for “Chellakutty” song, not so great. I think, nowadays people are lazy to travel to foreign countries for shooting a song. A complete “Made in India” movie from Shankar’s assistant???
2nd half – We could easily guess the next scenes and was very predictable. The Villian launches into Hero’s house suddenly and kills his family within minutes. The scenes couldn’t give the intensity as a Goutham’s cop movie gives. Being a same old revenge story, the screenplay should have elevated to make it more entertaining and engaging but it doesn’t.
Overall – People may tell this movie is a combination of Sattriyan and Yennai Arindhal, But, I simply ask you one question, how many Rajini movies have you seen with the same story, he will be down and again he comes back strong to kill or teach a lesson for the antagonist!! So what made the difference there to keep as entertaining in Rajni movies?? The screenplay with different way of telling the same story, the Hero’s charisma, the cast and Technical crew!!
So to put it in nutshell, Theri- “Same old wine in a new bottle”!!
So enjoy this complete family entertainer for this summer!
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Rahini David
April 14, 2016
Yes, the review video is good. I didn’t know they made these videos.
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vijay
April 14, 2016
“Why are GV Prakash’s songs so unmemorable”
He is trying to become some sort of a mass hero himself..a variant of the pukka local paya variety. why would he still be interested in composing memorable numbers for another massie? And especially when he was not anywhere close to being a great composer to begin with?
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Akhilan
April 14, 2016
@BR: Maybe ‘Vijay works best in the light-comic zone’, but for me, Puli was definitely not of those movies. I found him utterly unconvincing and couldn’t buy his warrior-prince act for one second… And I didn’t think he was particularly funny or endearing during the supposedly ‘lighter’ moments of the movie either…
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Srinivasa Yogananda Rao Netrakanti
April 14, 2016
A movie very characteristic of Vijay. The way fights, action, romance, dance movements and sentiments remain the same in all the movies of Vijay. Even ‘Theri’ is nol exception. Why do all the heroines in Vijay’s movies appear as aged-dolls or put another way Vijay’s appearance doesn’t evoke a powerful hero image. His action sometimes is more or less the same, in fact one gets this impression after watching ‘Theri’. Stories, heroines and locations may change. The portrayal of hero role doesn’t have the expected heroism. His stature-both literally and figuratively- is dimunitive
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Jithin Mathew
April 15, 2016
Small typo – “We should protest at the repeat of the shot where Joseph told her he could speak the language. ”
“He could not speak the language ” would be right. Loved your review.
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KadaKumar
April 15, 2016
Atlee didn’t impress much with Raja Rani. Granted, that movie was watchable, but nothing remotely interesting or remarkable. Just a rehashed Mouna Ragam where Mohan also gets a flashback. I felt that movie was way overrated, what with interviewees gushing over Nayantara’s ‘phenomenal acting’ and Sathyaraj’s ubercool character.
The music was overrated too. GV Prakash is a Chinese factory. Churning out flashy but low quality forgettable music which serve the purpose of fillers to offer loo breaks. Wonder how long he’ll coast on his ARRahman-nephew card. Often he copies tunes so flagrantly that I wonder if these guys think listeners are stuck in a deep well devoid of Western pop culture influences. GVP is one of those ‘original and good’ composers- just that his original creations aren’t good, while his good work isn’t original.
But what makes me more biased against this Atlee-GVP combo is that Atlee is far from humble and likable in his interviews and appearences. He talks way too much, goes overboard in praising his own movie, and comes off as obnoxious. After all, he’s made just 2 movies, both riding on cliched plots and star power. Its a travesty to celebrate newcomers like this guy when there are Karthik Subbaraj, Nalan, Ranjith types around.
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Sejd
April 15, 2016
Thuppakki had a gruesome dialog about torture; I was disturbed for years together after hearing that, and I am in my late thirties. The movie theater where I watched thuppakki was full of kids. WTF?
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Aravind Ramachandran
April 15, 2016
If the best they can come up for a title is theri, I already can’t wait to miss it.
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Aravindan Rajaram
April 15, 2016
your opinion on her performance may depend on how many spoons of sugar you take with your tea.
Wow.. excellent correlation! 🙂
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brangan
April 15, 2016
Ana: Actually, I would love to see Prabhu Dheva choreograph for Vijay. The man is a bloody genius. Look at what he did with Shahid Kapoor in R… Rajkumar, Hrithik in Lakshya, or Vijay himself in Pokkiri
And totally agree about how Vijay doesn’t seem to age. He’s in his 40s, and he can still pass off for someone in his 20s. He looks amazing, not a line on his forehead…
Aravindan Rajaram: Thanks 🙂 Really happy with that bit.
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Ankit Barlota
April 15, 2016
This is the umpteenth time u have been saying about U certificate in Tamil movies. Point taken. Guess the Directors rehash the same story just like u rehash the same points in your different reviews 😀
And yes, expecting a reply on my earlier concern. About your different mindsets for Theri & Vedalam??
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panagam
April 15, 2016
Enjoyed every bit of the review!! Excellent
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Ragenikanth
April 15, 2016
Ankit , exactly the point i want to post rangan has become more predictable than the films he reviews
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brangan
April 15, 2016
Ankit Barlota: You should have gone with the same mindset for Theri as with Vedalam.
(1) I don’t go to any movie with any mindset. I let the first 15 mins or so tell me what kind of film this is going to be — whether the same old stuff, or whether there are going to be surprises. And yes, you almost always know this within the first 15 mins or so.
(2) You cannot pre-set people’s reactions to these films. I hated Veeram. I did not mind Vedhalam. I did not mind Puli. I was not very impressed by Theri. You mileage may vary. But all these films aren’t the same JUST BECAUSE they have a mass star. The little things in each film determine your response to them.
(3) Yes, I did prefer Vedhalam to Theri. And why? Because of the little things.The grey shades in the hero. The way the film makes use of this quality. The solidness of Lakshmi Menon (as opposed to the vapidity of the women in Theri). The relative grounded-ness of the film. The sustained pre-interval block. The decision to not spend too much time on the hero-heroine romance and waste time.
(4) And despite this, if you’ve read the review properly, you’ll see lines like “Nah! It’s just lousy filmmaking.” So it’s not exactly a ringing endorsement.
(5) I think it is absolutely important to say this thing about censors over and over. To you, it may seem like the same point and something that’s insignificant. But to me, it’s shocking the kind of things that they allow under a U certificate. I think, as a critic, I SHOULD point this out every time I notice it, and point out the different things in each film that are offensive.
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Raja Sangameshwar
April 15, 2016
Theri is U , while Jungle book is UA. Life is indeed meaningful these days.
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sabharinath
April 15, 2016
BR sir….. Nowadays you get into my head when i watch a movie….. When I saw those mass moments I thought you would favour it, and that family convincing scene….. I thought you would specially mention it….. And for those violent scenes, I thought you would thrash the censor board….. And yes…. It all happened….. :-0
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sabharinath
April 15, 2016
By the way, I think Atlee did have an excellent line to develop into the film….. The last 30 minutes…… The Police Ghost Protocol stuff….. I think that was a largely unexplored cop theme in our films….. Just imagine if those 30 minutes were the film’s opening sequences!!!!!! It was really perfect….. Night time….. Thundering Showers…. A corrupt cop…. A crime…. A lady calling for eternal help…. Hero arrives….. Does his phantom stuff and disappears…. Then in the morning investigation, the hero’s death long back, is revealed…. Man…. That would have been a shocking surprise, and would have made an interesting watch….. And a really THERIffic movie….. But it’s surprising how a promising director like Atlee, failed to exploit this superb idea into a mass masala movie, and ended it up with a simple revelation from a lady journalist and…. SIGH….. Ok….. No use…. Everything is done and dusted now….. But if at all, there is a THERI-2….. Atleast then….
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Madan
April 15, 2016
Theri is U , while Jungle book is UA. Life is indeed meaningful these days.
By the by, “Lady, you can barely get by in Tamil, and now we have to buy you as a specialist in the southern languages?” – ROFL, too good.
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Hot news by Sundari (@trulyswapna)
April 15, 2016
Prabhu Deva directed Pokiri, but the film’s songs were choreographed by others. Of course, they were his former students and PD would have supervised it all.
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bart
April 15, 2016
Super sir.. Written review, Video review, aduthadhu TV debate, apdiye sidela cinema, adhukkapparam Chief minister… Therriiiii… Puthandu vaazthukkal!
I like the “The hindu – Tamil” Karthik’s reviews though there are a lot of gimmicks. Ease in front of camera, humour (smile pls), flashy attire (mottai bosskey), hyper reactions / emotions (itisprashanth) are few techniques that the current crop of VRs (Video Reviewers) use. First two should help you too. All the best!
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Krish
April 15, 2016
Waiting for your Fan review and atleast half a dozen usage of the word ‘meta’…
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hari
April 15, 2016
Comments in the hindu link were very entertaining 🙂
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Hariharan
April 15, 2016
Someone was BR why Theri is not given liberties that Vedalam was given. In “The Hindu” review Vedalam was given Superb Ajith in a not so great script. THis review also shares similar thoughts. I havent seen Theri, but Vedalam had few goose bumps scenes and no multi sentiment angle(it just had one sentiment with Sister). Not with Daughter,Mother ,Lover etc. Vedalam is not a classic either, but so does Theri. Many people find both as value for money.
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Priyamvadha M
April 15, 2016
I loved your video review! It was as if you put in words my feelings for the movie.
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rahular04
April 15, 2016
After watching Theri, I can’t help but draw comparison with another recent cop movie, Sethupathy, since both the movies are sophomore products from their respective directors. I loved sethupathy and I think that the ‘mass’ moments in it were rightly played out. It had more masala elements than Theri and also had a romantic track which never felt out of place in a movie about a cop. But Theri, in stark comparison, had two heroines just for the sake of having them (Amy Jackson was totally unconvincing with her bad hairdo and horrible dubbing). Sethupathy also had better a better father-son angle than Theri which is a self-proclaimed ode to fathers.
If the Sethupathy team could give such a film with relatively lesser resources and budget and still don’t get even half the reception that Theri is recieving from the audience, doesn’t that say something about the double standards in the minds of the people here?
And also, the certification of movies. That seriously doesn’t make any sense nowadays. We can only hope that the Shyam Benegal headed committee brings in some kind of strict and sensible guidelines for certification.
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Raj
April 15, 2016
I haven’t seen the video you had posted but just saw the jist of it. You are appealing to directors to make a movie for Masala-fans but can anyone define what is a Masala movie or who is a masala movie fan? If you open up this question you may get million versions.. When there is no clear definiton of a masala fan how would you make a film for them? Doesn’t Vijay fans fall under it?
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Ankit Barlota
April 16, 2016
Agree. The censorship standards are pathetic. But, you have been here for years now, and hence you must be aware that it is all corrupt. Currently, you get about 20% tax exemption for your movie if your title is in tamil & u have a U certificate. So, producers go any lengths to get it done. But saying about U cert in almost every review is a waste because IT IS NOT GOING TO CHANGE. This is the way a ruling party in TN controls the movie industry. What I meant is, every time you say “How U certificate?”, it feels like you are saying, “The earth revolves round the sun.”
Now about the movie. Wasn’t Vedalam a tiger-turned-mouse-turned-tiger story? But you liked it. And so many fans/families liked it. And so, till all of you keep liking such stories, there will be many more 100s of movies. Hence, we cant complain about “story”. I guess most of your readers expected you to thrash Vedalam & Puli. But since, those movies were accepted by you(by accepted i mean “not thrashed”),I expected you to accept this as well.
Completely agree with you on most points, like of similarities to Sathriyan. But Vedalam was so so similar (similar to the extent of being called same) to Aei, Sarath Kumar starrer. But you never mentioned that in your Vedalam review. You can very well say you didn’t know about it. But you are being unfair here. Almost all tamil masala movies are a shadow image of yesteryear heroes’ classics. So either you gotta accept them or just forget the old movies.
Why do critics have an obsession with “dark” shade?? When you are going for a “mass” movie, atleast you must be aware whose movie you are watching.. Ajith, has been doing gangster-dada movies for years now (almost all his movies in recent times, including Vedalam) and his fans like him for that. He comes off with an “SRK-like” image. But Vijay carries a “Salman-like” image. You will always see him as a good person who is always right. And his fans like him for that. And so Atlee used that image of his,just like Siva used Ajith in Vedalam!!
“There’s something about watching a hero who isn’t virtue incarnate, whose image allows him to do things other heroes can’t, and Vedalam makes pretty good use of this aspect of the actor.”
These were your lines from your Vedalam review. My concern was why couldn’t you consider Vijay’s image while reviewing Theri.
PS :Trust me, I wont be surprised, if Ajith plays a gangster in his next movie as well and you critics liking it for the dark image.(even though its predictable as ever).
You spoke about Atlee not finding right choreographers for Vijay. What about Siva giving Aaluma Doluma to dance on to Ajith??? Atleast Vijay can save a song with his dance but Ajith almost spoilt the best mass song of 2015!!
Now there would be many thinking I am here to defend Theri. but no, am here asking for some balance in Baradwaj rangan’s reviews. thrash one bad movie and accept another, just because you have a personal liking for “dark” roles and stuff is not being fair.That is it!!
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murugavel
April 16, 2016
Hi BR,
I admire all your reviews and as far as Theri is concerned, when closely observed, we can witness an inherent quality relating to fluidity of the movie (it flows),paced perfectly. There is nothing new here that we haven’t seen,but the treatment of the movie is what it differentiates from other commercial products in the market and to the extent vijay’s own filmography (except Thuppaki and Kaththi).
The movie isn’t without flaws like the plot is inert , Mahendran is not been used effectively, predictive and low on humour . Now considering other aspects, George C Williams cinematography is huge plus here giving the richness and texture to it , GV bgm placed rightly to elevate the mass moments and at director’s end except the intelligent quotient in the movie Atlee gets all other mix correctly(commercial ingredients) at equal ratios.
lastly Vijay is being neatly fleshed out in all depts, especially in drama dept (where we haven’t seen him in a long time). after a long time we see a vijay film that is being treated so organically.
It is definitely paisa vassol. It ENTERTAINS AND ENGAGES. BR this one is far ahead of vedhalam , vedhalam is nothing but rehash of Thirupachi( remember the scene where vijay meets pasupathy, were vijay effectively portrays the grey shades than ajith and has bro-sis sentiments).
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murugavel
April 16, 2016
and BR ,Theri is far ahead of vedhalam, vedhalam is nothing but rehash of vijay’s Thirupachi( remember the scene where he meets pasupthy, where vijay executes the grey shades effectively and the movie had memorable bro-sis moments)
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Ragenikanth
April 16, 2016
I am fan of Ajith but I have to agree with ankit as all his movies in last 15 have been just same and it is sickening to watch avoid veeram / vedhalam in between watched YA just for GM
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murugavel
April 16, 2016
take that for grey shade transformation. vijay had done it long back
THERI should be respected for craftsmanship and cinematic execution
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Anon
April 16, 2016
OMG, every one of these stupid mass shitfests has all the rabid fans descending and going on and on about, “how can you not think and write exactly what I want you to?”, EVERY SINGLE TIME! It used to amuse me. Now it is only tiresome.
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Rahini David
April 16, 2016
Ankit: The difference between saying “The earth revolves around the sun.” and saying “This movie should not have u certificate” is simply that there is NOTHING WRONG WITH EARTH REVOLVING AROUND THE SUN. And when was the last time a movie which had a man’s genitals lopped off AND got a U certificate AND BR wrote about it? Something is wrong with our country’s censorship policy or the people who enforce it. It should be mentioned over and over again.
‘just because you have a personal liking for “dark” roles and stuff is not being Fair.
What? Why else would he like a subgenre other than having a liking for it?
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Ravi K
April 16, 2016
To all you folks going on about Vedhalam, etc. in this thread, what does Baradwaj’s review of a different movie have to do with his opinion on this one? NOTHING. Because they’re different movies, with different scripts, directors, actors, etc., and because a review is a portrait of what the reviewer felt at the time he saw the film.
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Madan
April 16, 2016
I have not seen Theri nor am inclined to but imo Vedhalam wasn’t much of grey at all. Felt more like taking the latest WWE star and making a movie where he bashes up people (doesn’t matter who they are) to raucous approval from fans. It just stripped off all the other must haves of masala – not even a proper love track – and zeroed in what the fans wanted to see from Ajith. For there to be shades of grey, there has to be room for moral dilemma and conflict and the movie didn’t seem to have much time for either, only conflict of the physical kind. Also the typical understanding of grey/anti hero in the masala context is where the protagonist is essentially not such a bad person but is forced by circumstances to play avenging angel (Agneepath/Baazigar) or cross over to the dark side (Deewar). But in Vedhalam, Ajith is a hardcore baddie by choice and is forced by circumstances to be good to Tamizh (and no one else, an extreme implausibility even by masala standards, stretched even further beyond credibility in the climax). As a contrast, there is no celebration of SRK’s ‘badness’ in Darr (irrespective of how many fans he won for that portrayal); the movie casts him as the antagonist, as a total psycho lover. Vedhalam is full of moments that more or less celebrate how awesomely bad the character is, peaking with Aaluma Doluma.
Of course each one’s readings of films differ so what I got out of Vedhalam seems to have been very different from BR’s take.
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Nishanth Krishnan
April 16, 2016
What I really hate about this Brangan fellow is that while he is quick to defend his review of any movie as “his and his personal experience alone” of the movie, he goes on to use words like “we” and “us” and “our” nonchalantly.
sample this – Even the questions that run through our heads are predictable. With all the money at their disposal, why aren’t the action scenes better? How long are we going to keep countering dishoom with dishoom? Where are the nail-biting thrills in the stretch where a school bus filled with kids veers off into a river? Why are GV Prakash’s songs so unmemorable, and when are they going to find a choreographer who can really do justice to Vijay’s extraordinary dancing abilities?
I thoroughly enjoyed the action scene, the school bus scene was quite nail biting, i liked 2 of the songs and Vijay got a good scope to dance.
So…
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Rahini David
April 16, 2016
Nishanth: As BR is not a king or a president it is probably one of the other two options.
http://mobile.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/m/marktwain137903.html
🙂
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Honest Raj (formerly 'V'enkatesh)
April 16, 2016
The first few lines remind me of this epic scene:
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Raj Balakrishnan
April 17, 2016
Hate the way kollywood misuses the word ‘Love’. You don’t fall in love by looking at someone couple of times. The right word is attraction. Love develops over a period of time when you get to know a person better.
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Sharan
April 17, 2016
I read many reviews of theri saying atlee should be lauded for his handling of emotional scenes. sample this, samantha calls vijay’s mother radhika as her own mother and tells radhika to consider her as a daughter on their very first meet ( gv’s music orders us to cry). vijay on his first meet with samantha’s families calls her father as his own father, her sister as his own sister ( again gv orders us to cry). on death bed vijay tells samantha that she is actually his mother. I wasn’t surprised because a week back i saw atlee’s speech in theri audio function in which he called prabhu as motherly figure, radhika as amma, dhanu as appa, vijay as anna and vijay’s wife as akka.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LIP9rGgmcZQ
Amy jackson mouths a line said earlier by samantha, gv gets into action to make us feel she will be taking samantha’s place. In the climax from nowhere they bring in little girl nainika. I was thinking she would be either turning one among villains into a relation or mouth a dialgue from earlier scenes in the movie. Guess what both the things happen.
I am curious to know how this movie worked for many.
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Siva
April 17, 2016
Surprised that BR doesn’t like this one (or gave a mostly negative review), while he called Vedhalam “decent”. I will explain why some of us are perplexed by this.
As someone clearly pointed out, this movie is not exactly a super enjoyable blockbuster, but, atleast, it has some amount of characterization and craftmanship.
Let’s count the heroes out. If you like Ajith, you would like Vedhalam better. If you like Vijay, you would like Theri better. Pretty much that’s it. We are not talking about “performers” here.
Villains – Mahendran has a screen presence. He’s menacing and his motivation is clear: ruin the family of the guy who killed his son. His minions are also surprisingly well defined: The corrupt cop is shown how corrupt he is – he takes bribes from a guy who almost killed a pregnant woman; The brother/minister – he was with him but he has split ways to build an empire of his own. His resentment is shown clearly. He even kicks his minion publicly, then is shown apologizing to him privately, telling him how he had to go through the same. His arc also has a great finish with the little boy and the chocolate.
All this opposed to <insert stupidly generic and forgettable North Indian guy’s straight out of movies from 10-15 years ago> and the 9% chance of survival of his brother (ROFL) in Vedhalam
Technical Stuff – Atlee and his team’s craft is way better than Siruthai Siva and his teams is. I might not know the intricacies of film making, but I know when a movie is pleasant to look at and if it is well shot.
Heroines – Nothing ground breaking in Theri, but again, Samantha has a “character”, she craves for a mother, she worries about the superhero’s family. She is a loving wife. As opposed to Shruthi Hassan in tight shorts (really, that’s all it was in Vedhalam) – quite frankly such a demeaning take on the heroine, camera focusing on her skimpy clothes – like it was in Tamil Cinema some 10-15 years ago.
Songs – both were not very good I guess. Theri’s score was a little better for me.
Vedhalam opens with a hilarious scene which could have been picked from a Balayya (Telugu) movie. Theri at least gets to the point and flashbacks quickly.
I’m not saying Theri is a great movie or anything. But it at least respects the audience (BR’s comment on how it was shown that Vijay’s line about how he doesn’t know Malayalam is an insult to the audience – I don’t think it was meant to remind the audience that he said that 5 minutes ago. It was to show that that lie has only invoked Amy’s curiosity to investigate him further)
So, how BR, someone who has an eye for all these details, looked differently at these two movies is what perplexes me.
Of course, liking a movie is subjective – there are people who would love Vedhalam more than Nayakan – that’s totally up to each one’s tastes. So no one has the right to ask BR why he prefers this movie over that one.
But, I’m just curious as to how he chooses to focus on this particular thing and that in different movies. Would like to know as a huge fan of his writing and someone who chooses to watch movies also, based on it
That’s my two cents.
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Vidhya
April 18, 2016
The director Atlee seems to know how to build up expectations for his movies and seems to be savvy of both in-your-face promotions and otherwise.
His Raja Rani had so much pre-release talk, that one would have mistaken it for an A-lister’s movie. Plus he knew his target audience – youth today who love to love, but when it comes to settling down, prefer to go by their parents’ ways. So the whole angle of Love failure and life after love failure thing.
I watched that one with a large gang of youngsters, who were atleast 10 years younger than me. They were so touched by this film – I too was entertained, but they were touched. They were like – we too had a love story, but had to give up on that due to parental pressure.
a) that wasnt love. Just casual flirty flings limited to phone calls, lunches, flaunting to the peer groups etc
b) it was a convenient way to assuage themselves that it was not wrong to give in to their family’s pressure. Coz their second innings will have Nayantara with the fake lashes on or Arya with his grimace on! Easier route rather than walking out on the family, giving up on inheritance, toiling away in obscurity etc
Have to see what this guy has done to the more vulnerable group of Vijay fans by tinkering around with their fandom & craze.
Nothing wrong in being savvy. But maybe that’s why people dont get how a Vedalam by that one note Siruthai (Siva) could make a better impact (on you) than this sly fox.
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P
April 19, 2016
BR: Just saw this. Super interesting. I don’t generally catch non-Manirathnam movies in the theatre, but I loooooooove Vijay’s dancing. Every party, we dance to his songs! Even the North Indians. 😀 I love his song “Karigalan” (am I spelling that right?) with Anushka…he’s simply brilliant. I am sure his movies, just like Ajith’s are the same ol’, same ol’ though.
Wanted to make the point that the censor board as it exists in India is highly unfair and slightly disgusting. What it amounts to is censorship of thought and free speech. In the US there is no such thing as a censor board. Movie directors and studios themselves give the certificate they think appropriate for the film. And a film can be released without a certificate also.
Wish we were that mature 😦 Unfortunately our mai-baap govt and its various hydra-heads insist on mollycoddling us.
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praneshp
April 19, 2016
@vidhya:
Agree with (b), but (a) is a bit harsh, no?
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Rahini David
April 19, 2016
I took this from The Perils of Pauline by Renata Adler
“We” and “you” can occur, of course, in any writer’s work, in moderation. For the first two hundred pages, it seems that Ms. Kael means a sort of scolding nanny “we,” or a flirting schoolmarm’s, or a nondirective therapist’s, or a tour guide’s, or a prison matron’s. Consistent with the nanny, miffed, are remarks like, “She consented, but I was offended for her,” “I can’t help feeling that the audience is being insulted, although the audience doesn’t think so.” Also the repeated threats of what will happen “if” an actor, or a director, or a film “doesn’t pull” him or itself “together.” But then, there is something so pervasive and remorseless in that “we”—“we want,” “we resent,” “we feel,” “we’re desperate for,” “we don’t know how to react,” “we know too well what we’re supposed to feel,” “we want it, just as we wanted,” “we all know“—that the “we” becomes a bandwagon, a kangaroo court, a gang, an elite, a congregation, which readers had better join, or else be consigned to that poor group of deviants, sissies, aesthetic and moral idiots who comprise “some people,” “many people,” “a lot of people,” “those people,” “they.”
“You,” normally, is the individuated “we.” “You may wonder, Are these boys being naughty because they’re old enough not to be?” “You feel that some of your brain cells are being knocked out.” “You want the director to stop all the nonsense.” Sometimes, the “you” seems the subject of a hypnotist: “You feel that you understand everything that’s going on.” “You don’t feel embarrassed by anything that Clint Eastwood does.” But “you” is most often Ms. Kael’s “I,” or a member or prospective member of her “we.”
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Vidhya
April 20, 2016
Yes Praneshp – it did come off a bit harsh, but I dont see an increase in love marriages among youngsters today (not talking about the upper / upper middle or working class – but the majority of decisively middle class – the ones who may work in IT, yet have strict notions of caste, righteousness etc. I guess, the movie Thanga Magan showed such a character in Dhanush)
However we do see parks and beaches thronged by lovers. What is the conversion rate for these numbers to marriage? ( Whether marriage should be the only logical culmination of love, is a different debate.) But when someone simply feels the need for a girlfriend / boyfriend like his need for a bike, for a perfect profile pic, for peer approval – then it becomes a shaky foundation to start with.
Maybe I am failing to see the better world, due to my circle of myopic friends & acquaintances, but I will be the happiest if my statement on “casual flirty flings passing off for love” is proven wrong. 🙂
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Kay
April 20, 2016
The heavy sentimental scenes were so annoying. Also, some of the aspects that disturbed me were, how the heroine is expected to have a baby within an year of marriage and this idea is being repeatedly emphasised. Whatever happened to Samantha becoming a doctor?? She says her life is complete because she has a husband, daughter and mother (in law). How about having a career and putting that doctor degree to some use? Why can’t we have empowered, strong women who don’t need a man to justify their existence?
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Kurinji
April 23, 2016
“atavistically” hmm mindla vechikiren
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Kurinji
April 23, 2016
Somewhere in mid nineties , I watched poove unakkaga in one of the dingy theatres of dharmapuri . The good folks of dharmapuri went gaga over the sentimental overdose of vikraman ( which they did for every vikraman movie ) . After an almost two decade gap watched theri in a multiplex in Bangalore . The idea of popular movie has come a long way from an over sacrificing hero ,spouting flower analogies for love with utmost earnestness. People seem to gulp this new so called mass hero genre . The hero/ super hero beats the bad guys and saves women and children . Sheds tears for the plight of the unfortunate. Good thumps evil . Popcorn is warm . All is well . Here comes the drag . Since the times of MGR , our movies show the kind of saviour who the common man is waiting for eternally . He would come swooshing in to serve vigilante justice in a palate . We all can continue to be useless lumps and the hero/ saviour / demi god would take care of the society . Is this what these movies have been teaching the people all along? After all , these mass movies may not be as innocuous as they seem to be . I for one am not comfortable with one self righteous hero after another committing murders on screen and kids cheering for it . There is something deeply unsettling about the whole thing
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Ragenikanth
April 25, 2016
kurinji atleast here he is policeman in Vedhalam the hero is rogue people enjoyed the brutal killings on the screen to me which was unbearable , it is disappointing Ajith continuous be doing more of same
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KadaKumar
April 26, 2016
Finally managed to catch the movie in a theatre today. I have to rant about i, and where else but here.
What a sore mess the movie was. At the outset, let me clarify that I love a well-made masala movie, think Dhool or Minnale, and am a fan of Tamil movies who tries his best to look at positives and enjoy the movie. But really`, this movie made even that hard.
First off, the movie was one long labored bore. It went on and on and on, and ended with a whimper. Somehow nothing gelled or felt right. Every scene in the movie was an artifice, lazily put together to appeal to some imagined, and retarded, fan base. Its as if the director had no real ideas, and just put up a collage of fanservice scenes. Mother sentiment. Check. Father sentiment. Check. Social evils. Check.
Why does every damn scene or dialogue have to be meme-worthy. Can’t anybody be natural and say normal stuff which fit in the narrative even once. Tacky.
The sentiments were all forced and made me either roll my eyes, or straight up cringe. We all knew that Samantha was going to die as soon as she said she felt ‘complete’. Talk about predictability. Her death, and Radhika’s were blatantly manipulative and cheap shock value.
Things which could have been interesting were left unexplored. Like the police procedural involving the rapist’s capture. We never know how it happened. For a short while I was hooked, reminded of Vettaiyadu Vilaiyadu in the way the hero investigates the disappearence of the girl. That track had potential, but was wasted with a speedy conclusion. A twisted one at that, sending all the wrong messages.
Why did the father, the villain, not even shed a tear at the death of his son, instead delving into casual vengeance almost instantly?
Why would the cop declare cockily to that father that he was the one who committed that extrajudicial murder when that would only needlessly make life hard for him? After all, the villain seemed almost reasonable till that point, and he didn’t do any wrong. Except raise a prodigal son.
Did baby Nivi die in the bathtub? One scene showed her face down in water, appearing dead. The next scene had her unconscious. What actually happened and how did Vijay, who was shot twice and beated badly, escape the explosion with the baby?
What was the point of Swaminathan explaining about his grandfather Uppili, and what was the whole point of that Sunaina guest appearence? Was it supposed to be comedy? Is simply having a srichurnam wearing Iyengar supposed to be funny these days?
Speaking of comedy, can we stop it with the lazy ‘ennama ipdi panreengale ma’ line? Its been done to death already. Mottai Rajendran has a great presence, but is wasted here.
Did nobody else find the overuse of ‘baby’ grating on the ears? Every line uttered in the Vijay-Nivi exchange had at least three ‘baby’s uttered. Is it supposed to be cute? Even if it was, it stopped being so past the second time. This is like the overuse of ‘darling’ in the Nayantara-Sathyaraj exchanges in Raja Rani. Another irritating and pretentious attempt at looking cute and quirky.
Whats with the heroine Samantha falling in love the first time she meet Vijay? So much for the love angle. The less said about her hideous botoxed face the better. Sam, you were lovely in Baana Kathadi and the gore gore song. Is it even Samantha anymore, or has every cell in her body been replaced with plastic, a la ship of theseus?
Being a big budget movie, can’t the songs even be shot in good locations? Atless shows off his Shankar pedigree in the flashy song costumes, and the street interview scenes, but whats the deal with fake-looking song scenery sets? I mean, just shooting randomly in Kerala would have looked gorgeous instead of those silly alien cardboard landscapes.
So many questions.
Say what you want, but Amy Jackson was the only positive in the movie. She can’t lipsync, and looks out of place. But she sure is a feast for sore eyes.
Atlee should learn to shut up and not boast in interviews like the next Shankar. Not until he makes one movie with some original ideas.
End rant.
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bingosrikatha
April 27, 2016
you words are amazing sir!!!
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Jeyashree
May 10, 2016
Im beginning to find this whole thing of picturing career oriented women as ideal and empowered ..and a career oriented woman is automatically seen to be empowered ? I believe its to have the choice and means to do what one wants that makes a woman empowered. Even if that meant having a baby within a year of marriage or out of wedlock..clean her own home or do groundbreaking research in genomics..read vara malar or challenge ayn rand.. Believe me this is coming from a strong career oriented woman on an intensive round the clock job who sometimes wishes she had the choice to stay home and watch her baby grow and cultivate veggies on a terrace garden.
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Prasanna
July 9, 2016
Dint Stevan Seagal make around 6 movies on a similar story and screen play during the 90s?
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