Spoilers ahead…
You know those pretty, shapely girls from Belarus or Lithuania who come to Mumbai on a holiday and end up as backup dancers in a Baw-ly-would movie? In the song that plays over the opening credits of Great Grand Masti, one of them opens her eyes wide and goes WOW! as Ritesh Deshmukh, Vivek Oberoi and Aftab Shivdasani enter the frame. I guess this is director Indra Kumar telling us he’s making a fantasy. We cut to Ritesh Deshmukh examining the private parts of a man. I’m guessing he’s some kind of doctor (it would be troubling if he weren’t), though if you ask me what his specialty is, I wouldn’t be able to say. This isn’t the kind of movie to bother with details. His phone rings. It’s a call from Chudail Ki Beti. If you’re wondering who that is, you haven’t seen a Masti movie. It’s the wife. She wants him to come with her to see a swami (Sanjay Mishra) who goes by the name of Antakshari Baba and speaks in film song-ese. Already I’m beginning to wonder why they don’t crowd-source the one-liners in these films, especially with the predominance of wags on social media.
Aftab Shivdasani comes home in time to hear his bosomy sister-in-law yell STATUE. He freezes. She begins to tickle him. Even though he’s supposed to be frozen, one part of him moves. Sister-in-law is delighted. You want to promptly put her on a couch – clean your mind with soap, I don’t mean that. I’m saying she has issues if her idea of fun and games is to give her brother-in-law a boner. Aftab Shivdasani’s signature acting move is to convey arousal by rolling back his eyeballs and making his jaw quiver – it’s as though he’s getting blown by a vacuum cleaner. A little later, he refers to his penis as a chooha. He keeps doing this. In a subsequent scene, it’s a lollipop. And then we move to Vivek Oberoi’s house, where his wife and brother-in-law are weirdly linked, the way E.T. and Elliot were. One does or feels something. The other experiences the same. So when an amorous Vivek Oberoi returns home, his wife begins to behave like her brother who is somewhere else, kicking someone in the groin. Under the Farrelly brothers, this would have become a great low-brow gag. Indra Kumar, alas, is only interested in low-bra gags.
Ritesh Deshmukh finds there’s a new domestic help at home. She’s bosomy too. I’ll stop referring to the women in this film as bosomy because that’s like calling the sky blue. (If you’re chuckling and asking, “The sky blew who?”, you’re exactly the target audience for Great Grand Masti.) The screen tests, I am fairly certain, weren’t about whether these women fit the parts but whether they fit DD-cup bras. When the heroes have an accident and their car slams into a tree, I half expected inflatable mammary glands to cushion them. Am I losing track of the story? I suppose I’ll have to return to the scene in which Aftab Shivdasani goes to take a shit and thinks he’s been bitten by a cobra, which means one of his pals will have to suck out the venom from his rear end. This film is big on rear-end humour. During the climax, Antakshari Baba, under the influence of a spell from a demoness, actually shits out a watermelon.
This demoness (Urvashi Rautela) lives in a dilapidated mansion in a place named… Doodhwadi. When our salivating heroes imagine the kind of women here, they see pretty young things everywhere, even at a potter’s wheel. Aftab Shivdasani tells the latter creature he loves her matkas. In case we didn’t get the joke, he tells her again. I grinned when a man with a blanket was dismissed as Kambal Haasan. (Oh go on, judge me!) So a few scenes later, our heroes walk into the mansion and meet the demoness, whose blouses are one exhalation away from a wardrobe malfunction. They don’t know she’s a demoness. They want to have sex with her. Turns out, she wants to have sex with them too. Only, after she’s done, the man will end up dead. For a second, I think Indra Kumar is subverting his earlier Masti movies, wagging a warning finger at cheating husbands. But nah! He’s soon back to slipping Viagra tablets in stainless-steel glasses, which increase in size.
Soon after intercourse – sorry, intermission, we get another gag-that-could-have-been. The three men sit around a table, that soon begins to wobble on… seven legs. And under the influence of the blue pill, Aftab Shivdasani starts pounding on a piano using his engorged member instead of his fingers. One of the songs is Khambe jaisi khadi hai. A more alert director would have quickly segued to Laal chhadi maidan khadi, and made a running gag of it. Instead, we meet Shreyas Talpade, in a special appearance. He plays a “gaon ka gigolo” hired by the trio to sleep with the demoness. She’s furious. She turns the man into a cock. I mean the bird. Soon, our heroes attempt to have sex with Ritesh Deshmukh’s mother-in-law. Why is she here, you may wonder. Because the wives have come to celebrate Karwa Chauth, and it’s their steadfast wifeliness that ends up saving our leading men. In other films, this festival is when wives offer prayers for their husbands’ long life. But here, you have to wonder if the desired lengthening wasn’t targeted at something else.
KEY:
- Chudail Ki Beti = a witch’s daughter
- a Masti movie = see here
- chooha = mouse
- matka = earthen pot
- gaon ka gigolo = the gigolo of the village
Copyright ©2016 Baradwaj Rangan. This article may not be reproduced in its entirety without permission. A link to this URL, instead, would be appreciated.
Baradwaj Rangan 
sanjana
July 16, 2016
hahahahaha!
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Lakshmi Mahadevan
July 16, 2016
What a sense of humour you have. I never miss your reviews of Tamil movies as I don’t understand Hindi. Your choice of words is fantastic.
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sravishanker1401gmailcom
July 16, 2016
BR : This review is one long laugh riot entertainer right from the title to the very end. “Inflatable mammary glands to cushion the impact” Vow !
Unlike in the movies the innuendos in your piece work very well.
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Naren
July 16, 2016
Indra kumar does a tarantino (or should I say Kanti Shah?) in this film… ‘khambe jaisi khadi hai’ is, incidentally, a song from Dil, indra Kumar’s one of the most successful films.
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tonks
July 16, 2016
One of the songs is Khambe jaisi khadi hai. A more alert director would have quickly segued to Laal chhadi maidan khadi, and made a running gag of it
Perhaps this one, too 😉
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Jaga_Jaga
July 17, 2016
Oh your standards have dropped! So much that there is a typo right there in the title. Isn’t it the “Great Gaand Masti”??
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K.
July 17, 2016
So basically Riteish Deshmukh is Ibu Hatela’s father huh?
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Anu Warier
July 17, 2016
🙂 Your review is far more humorous than the film (or must be, since I haven’t watched the film and have no intention of watching it either).
@tonks: LOL
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Santa
July 17, 2016
Haven’t seen the movie, never will. But a quick comment based on the review: the statue scene seems to be a reference to Aftab’s character in Darna Mana Hai (there it was STOP, not STATUE).
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Santa
July 17, 2016
@K LOL at Ibu Hatela! Missed the Chudail ke beti reference on first reading…
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KadaKumar
July 17, 2016
Has any critic ever had any good words to say about any low-brow Indian sex comedy?
On the one hand, you have these condescending reviewers who love these movies because it gives them an opportunity to show off how witty and cool they are. By ripping them to pieces, and even deriding anybody who watches them. “Zero stars” they proclaim proudly. Or they use it to boast of their progressive credentials by throwing around words like sexism, ageism, stereotyping, homophobia, objectification,…You know, the tired old bogey of fashionable -isms.
Others go even deeper- by acting disappointed that the jokes weren’t funny enough. That they were tired by the innuendo, lame wordplay, and juvenile toilet humor borrowed from whatsapp forwards. That they expected it to push the boundaries of obscenity, but the movie stayed within safe territory.
Really, what do you expect from these movies?
Most of the time, reviews of such movies are a total waste of effort on the reviewers part, and time on the reader’s part. We know in advance what you’ll say about these movies. Its just going to be a rehash of a previous review of a sex comedy “its silly, immature, pathetic, brainless, blah blah”. So why even bother reviewing them? You reviewers don’t have to prove your wit to us. Maybe for some mediocre reviewers, such films are a kanna-laddu-thinna-aasaiya opportunity to show off how evolved their tastes are. Certainly not for you, Rangan.
The audience knows exactly what to expect from these movies: silly schoolboy humor and gratuitous shots of deep cleavage. Nothing more. And with such modest expectations, nobody is going to be disappointed. Critical reviews and analysis are unnecessary to add to the understanding of the movie anyway. Not like there are deep layers in the narrative worth pointing out.
So again: Why do you even bother?
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sanjana
July 17, 2016
Why do one bothers?
Why do we eat junk food and relish it too?
Why do we read these reviews knowingly?
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tonks
July 17, 2016
So again: Why do you even bother
Because it’s exactly the sort of movie that brings out the funniest, most hilarious reviews in this blog?
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KadaKumar
July 17, 2016
@tonks: Isn’t the purpose of reviews to provide different perspectives and point out interesting details and interpretations lay audiences might not perceive? Smutty comedies aren’t designed to be appreciated this way.
Its very easy to find faults with a low-brow sex comedy. Low-hanging fruits they are. The movie practically offers opportunities for mockery on a platter. Mostly on purpose, I suspect. Whats the point falling for that and lazily repeating the obvious “hilarious” faults that anybody with half a brain could do just as well? Go read any review of such movies. They’d all be essentially the same.
Just saying there’s no need for Brangan to waste his time on these movies. Lesser critics might relish these opportunities to try being witty and funny and impress readers with their superior judgments, but Brangan doesn’t need to stoop to their level. He might as well focus on movies which could actually use his skills.
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niviblog
July 17, 2016
Sorry this is off topic….when is achcham yenbathu madamaiyada releasing? Wasn’t it supposed to come out on the 15th?
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sanjana
July 17, 2016
Rangan’s style is different from other critics even while mocking. It is actually not mocking but wondering.
I prefer to read these reviews from Rangan than serious reviews about good films. It brings some smiles. His gushing reviews almost bore me to death. Maybe I love junk food.
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tonks
July 17, 2016
Isn’t the purpose of reviews to provide different perspectives and point out interesting details and interpretations lay audiences might not perceive? Smutty comedies aren’t designed to be appreciated this way
Oh well, the reviews of the bad movies are sometimes what I enjoy the most in here :). Different strokes for different folks, I guess 🙂
Just saying there’s no need for Brangan to waste his time on these movies
Was it Lennon who said, “the time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time”
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Kid
July 17, 2016
Kadakumar: This is the essentially the kind of review which shows that Baradwaj Rangan is the only Indian critic who can be a ‘thinker’ of cinema while also remaining a “fan of movies” kinda guy. This review is hardly limited to a display of wit by BR.
Exhibit A:
“…Only, after she’s done, the man will end up dead. For a second, I think Indra Kumar is subverting his earlier Masti movies, wagging a warning finger at cheating husbands…”-
Notice here that unlike most Indian critics, BR, atleast at some level, has attempted to take the film seriously. That he is not merely lambasting the film or trying to be patronising or what have you!
Take this line for example:-
” I grinned when a man with a blanket was dismissed as Kambal Haasan. (Oh go on, judge me!) ”
Do you still believe BR is taking the easy route of mocking the film?!
Exhibit B:
” One of the songs is Khambe jaisi khadi hai. A more alert director would have quickly segued to Laal chhadi maidan khadi, and made a running gag of it”-
Notice the choice of the song (“Laal chhadi”) here. Unlike the song which Tonks mentioned (“khada hai, khada hai” from Andaz.. which is pretty much an innuendo-laden number), Lal Chhadi (one of the iconic Shammi Kapoor numbers which not only is the potent example of the actor’s persona, but also the strongest symbol of the world Shammi represented. It also in some ways is a signpost of the “‘innocent, free-flowing” cinema 60’s after the more ‘serious’ cinema of the 50s) is worlds removed from the world of innuendo (atleast none of the intentional kind). sex-comedies and Masti. And yet BR chose this song, a song which which predates Great Grand Masti by half a century. I am not saying BR intended this way, but had he simply mentioned that Andaz song, this would be a very lazy choice to indulge in humour on part of BR. but when he mentions Laal Chhadi in this context BR not only offers a sly commentary on the times we live in (that we are finding double meaning in the most innocent of songs of possibly the most “lovable” star Hindi cinema has seen), but also talks about the very ‘allusiveness” of cinema (and art): that the ‘tasteful’ in cinema can so easily become “tasteless’ once you change the context. Actually, in may ways, by mentioning Laal Chhadi, BR is according some sort of respect to Grand Masti. He is probably saying that while Indra Kumar will never be an “artist”, he could atleast have been an able “craftsman” when it comes to “manufacturing” these films.
But more importantly, this Lal Chhadi reference is yet another example why BR is the ONLY Indian critic who is interested in the history of Indian cinema (and even world cinema) and what it “means”. He is also the only one who tries to give a historical cinematic context to a film. He is the only one who invokes Dev Anand’s “Hare Rama Hare Krishna” when talking about Udta Punjab. One of my BR pieces is the one he wrote on “R Rajkumar”- a piece where he offers the Yojimbo analogy for Shahid Kapoor’s character. I mean who would have thought about Kurosawa when talking about a Telugu-styled masala film. And yet BR only mentions what should be obvious to any serious cinema-viewer: that Kurosawa’s cinema (especially the Samurai cinema) had many tropes and themes in common with the golden age of masala cinema of the 70’s (Rathnam himself offers homage to Kurosawa in Thalapthi which might be somewhat of a “minor film” in Rathnam’s oeuvre inspite of the presence of the two titanic stars in it, but is a “major film’ in context of Indian cinema as it tells that even the most “populist” films can have foreign cinematic influences and that sometimes the greatest of artistic sensibilities can exist in a mainstream film). That the best Masala films combined fine storytelling and potent socio-political themes with crowd-pleasing moments seamlessly in the same way as Kurosawa (or Shakespeare) did. That high-art can also be a hugely entertaining. This is of course not to say that a Sholay film is high-art in the same way as Seven Samurai is, but that unlike in the case of Seven Samurai, the school of thought which could even make a case for Sholay being serious-cinema (let alone high-art) never existed (and, sadly, still doesn’t exist) in India because of a complete lack of critical and institutional support in the country. Kurosawa wouldn’t have become Kurosawa without the pre-existing critical apparatus for cinema (and art) in the West. Actually, and I am only exaggerating a little when I say this, but Truffaut, Chabrol and Godard, would mean nothing without “Cahiers du cinema”.
BTW Kadakumar, I have a particular issue with this line of yours-
“Smutty comedies aren’t designed to be appreciated this way”-
But why insist on a single method of ‘entering’ and ‘accessing” a film?! I find this approach of yours as to “how a film should be appreciated” a little fascistic. What I find even more troubling is this particular line of thought-
“Critical reviews and analysis are unnecessary to add to the understanding of the movie anyway. Not like there are deep layers in the narrative worth pointing out”. –
I don’t even know what to say about this other than the fact while ‘critical analysis’ may or may not add to the understanding of the particular film, it may very well help in understanding the world (both real and cinematic) in which the films exists,
“The audience knows exactly what to expect from these movies: silly schoolboy humor and gratuitous shots of deep cleavage’-
But why be so presumptive of audience’s taste. A smutty comedy can also be pretty smart- Delhi Belly is a good example of it (a niche film yes, but one which was made in a mainstream space and which actually did pretty solid business). And so is it really improbable that Indian audience can, once in a while, expect a little more than ‘silliness” from such films?
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Sifter
July 17, 2016
What a review 🙂
@tonks- 4 minutes of 🙂 🙂 with the ‘khada hai’ song you posted…which i also heard it for the first time 🙂
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brangan
July 17, 2016
Kid: The innocence of “Laal chhadi” and the fact that from it’s an entirely different era/world than Masti is exactly why I chose the song. Thank you so much for this lovely comment. It’s ended my week on a huge high.
Thank you, also, for “reading” — I mean, really reading — the review instead of skimming through it. There’s no greater gift or compliment for a writer. Much, much appreciated.
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Madan
July 17, 2016
“Just saying there’s no need for Brangan to waste his time on these movies.” – Point taken but unfortunately given the high ‘standards’ of Indian cinema, this could then start to apply to many of his reviews. At least a GGM gets a full length review from him because he derives – or seems to – pleasure in smashing it to smithereens; the ‘meh’ films get more cursory reviews. As he explained in one write up, the act of reviewing a film, however good or bad, creates a record of the film for future reference, for whatever that is worth. By the way, this review is quite cleverly written. He is not trying to flaunt lib/feminist cred imo while still taking the mickey out of the film with wonderful jokes of his own.
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Madan
July 17, 2016
Kid: Agreed, I also really liked the Lal Chadi reference. In this context, it’s a metaphor for, well, so many things. Brilliant writing!
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Kid
July 17, 2016
kadakumar: BTW I agree with a lot of what you are saying as well. I am with you when you say “He might as well focus on movies which could actually use his skills.”. For instance, I wish that sometimes BR, instead of watching almost all Bollywood releases every week so that he could review them (I doubt he had any other interest in checking out Great Grand Masti), would chose to see a regional film and write on it (when I talk about Hindi films, I am talking about the bargain-basement works like Great Grand Masti, the ones where you know beforehand that they would be mildly tolerable at best. I could understand if they would have a big star or were made by a big name/promising director, but what could be the stimulus for checking out Great Grand Masti beats me- unless of course it’s the thought of watching a film of the “director of Ishq and Dil” which dragged BR to these Masti films. BTW Inder Kumar actually made a fairly funny silly comedy, Dhamaal, which actually did have some pretty good gags. I mean if this would be a one-off case for BR, i would still understand, but when you see this week after week- this week it was GGM, sometime back it was Junooniyat- you get a little exasperated. I mean I understand that he has to check out every Tamil film because of his professional obligation, but why every Hindi film?!). I know that BR sometimes writes on regional cinema, but to be quite candid, it’s a still rare occasion when he does so. Now some of these regional films might not be reaching the Chennai theaters (though a lot of them do with subtitles), but he can certainly watch a film on home video etc (a lot of the regional films are very easily available with subtitles on dvd’s in case BR wants to avoid going down the “occult route” of torrents. I mean almost every Malayalam film these days is available with subtitles on DvDs). Also he doesn’t have to be a film which is in the theatres, BR can sometimes watch a Malayali or a Bengali film which came out some months back (or even before that). Why not try and watch (and write) say more contemporary Malayalam films especially when he has been reasonably impressed by quite a few of them. Why not check out more Bengali works, say the cinema of Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury and Srijit Mukherji (I mention these two names because BR has seen and liked some of the works of these two men- Antaheen and Baishe Shrabon). And why restrict oneself to the contemporary scene. I haven’t read any piece of BR on the very radical and important Kannada cinema of the past (not everything is available easily with subs, but few films are there with subtitles on youtube itself. Girish Kasaravalli is a good place to begin, but Karnad and Karanth could also be seen). Why not, for instance, seek out the works of Puttanna Kanagal and compare it with Balachander’s films (not only because their films often had similar themes, but also because Balachander is a “student” of Kanagal in many ways). Why not try and check out some of the very fine Malayalam “middle-cinema” (it doesn’t have to be Adoor or Aravindan, it can very well be the very commercial films of Padmarajan and Sibi Malayil! Again not much is available with subtitles, but some of it is. And a few films are available quite easily on Youtube etc with subs. Few more can be obtained through subtitled Dvds). For what it’s worth, I can email the internet links of some of these subtitled works to BR in case he is interested.
I will say this that I simply don’t find BR interested enough in seeking out these works. The “no-subtitles” arguement doesn’t cut it any more because a lot of these regional films (though the situation on this front is still very, very bleak. Overall still very few films are available on proper prints, even worse is the case of subtitles) are very easily available on subtitled prints on Youtube etc. Now of course I understand is BR has become much more than a film critic, he has started to consistently write on other things and he may not have the time for watching as many films as he wants to anymore. But for me, Baradwaj Rangan remains first and foremost a film critic, it’s only fair when I feel disappointed by him when it comes to writing on regional cinema is concerned.
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brangan
July 17, 2016
Kid: Point taken, and you have partly answered your question. There are two things at work here. One. my job is not just to review films. I do other things at the newspaper, so time is limited. Of course, in that limited time, I do see that I could write more about non-mainstream cinema. It’s mostly discipline, I guess. At the Express, they wanted me to do a column called Part of the Picture, so I had to discipline myself to watch a foreign film every week and write about it. Now, if you notice, my writing about foreign films has come down too. I’d give anything to go back to those Express days, when I was just a writer, nothing else.
Another thing: At the paper, they always look for a peg. So unless it’s an anniversary of some sort (or death, in the case of Rudraiah), it’s somewhat difficult to say “I want to talk about Puttanna Kanagal” — and even then , someone from Bangalore would have written a tribute that would have gone out on the web, and they’ll say “Why another one? Do something else.”
None of this is an excuse. Just saying how things are.
As for why I cover Bollywood, it’s the same reason I write about Tamil films I don’t have to review (or don’t end up reviewing) for the paper. These two industries fascinate me. I have followed them very rigorously. I know the history pretty well. I know the music well. I try to keep abreast of trends, however shallow, because it all adds up to the pop-cultural climate. It’s also some kind of cultural record. I may be mistaken in thinking this culture even needs to be recorded, but FWIW, that’s what I feel I am doing now.
Still, I haven’t been too remiss of late. I reviewed Sairat, wrote about Asha Jaoar Majhe and Srimanthudu, and now Ozhivudivasathu Kali…
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Harish S
July 18, 2016
@KADAkumar: please sit down and relax. let the guy have some fun while doing his job 🙂
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sanjana
July 18, 2016
I have a feeling that BR wants to be a freelancer choosing what he wants to review. We should not impose our own preferences on him. Let us enjoy what he dishes out. He surprises us many times with something as Berlin diaries and reflections. A man of his achievements and stature does not need gratuitous advice unless it is related to video chats.
Sometimes even big films like Dilwale and most of Salman’s films need not be reviewed as they have nothing to offer in terms of cinematic value. They are simply timepass. Films like BM, BV, BB, PK, Fan, Tamasha, Piku are different and deserve as many reviews. As for regional films, it requires some homework and perhaps second viewing if the film is really worth reviewing.
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brangan
July 18, 2016
sanjana: Advice, if well-intended, is never gratuitous.
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Arijit
July 18, 2016
what a review! i think it’s high time you attempt to channelize this into a script (the late Ebert can be an inspiration ;))
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naveenkrwpress
July 18, 2016
@Sanjana, well said. all films do not deserve a BR review. it is like cutting a birthday cake with a sword ( like the Prince of Sairaat ).
Sairaat was one movie i watched purely based on BR’s review and loved it ( and read the review again ). so i check the non-descript movies covered in his reviews to scan for otherwise ignored gems. that way I request BR to bring hidden gems under our light
as far as movies like masti are concerned they have their own target audience and make intended money too. so critical reviews dont matter to the makers or their audience
one has the choice to ignore reviews of any specific movies they already know is not upto their taste
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Aditya (Gradwolf)
July 18, 2016
A little surprised or shocked at the kind of responses. From “Just saying there’s no need for Brangan to waste his time on these movies.” to many other things said here (even about Salman films or that regional films may need a second viewing while the mentioned Bollywood films can be written endlessly about). The approach is simple, especially for a writer and well articulated here:
http://jaiarjun.blogspot.in/2012/05/yet-another-pedantic-post-on-subject.html
Especially…
As a writer, the motif of the supposedly unworthy subject matter strikes a chord on another level too. Reading feedback on (well-written) magazine or newspaper articles, it’s common to find people saying things like “Why have you wasted so many pages on [so-and-so topic]?” – one often gets the impression that they haven’t bothered to read the piece at all. (Here’s a recent example of a good article on a subject not many people deem analysis-worthy.) But the idea that certain things shouldn’t be written about in depth because they don’t “deserve” it is most puzzling. Fact: ANY subject under the sun is worth engaging with, no matter how lowbrow it might seem. What matters is the quality of that engagement.
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MANK
July 18, 2016
Brangan, Howlarious review. really cheered me up after a glum period in my life. i definitely needed it. Thanks for reminding me once again why i am so addicted to this blog.
Kid, its great to have you back in full force on this blog. Really missed you. what a comment(s). not just for the superb points you made, but also for the length and breadth of cinema that you have covered. Truly awesome!
Kadakumar: Notwithstanding the fact that you are a superb writer, i hope you are not reaching for the seat left vacant by our late, lamented, banned commenter. you certainly seem to be developing all the qualifications for it.
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Raj Balakrishnan
July 18, 2016
Hilarious review. Awful movies bring out the best in you. Hope Bollywood continues to churn out such crap films.
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rothrocks
July 18, 2016
@ MANK : I hope you’re joking (or maybe it is that I wasn’t there during the early days of THAT commenter) because I don’t find anything objectionable in what Kadakumar is saying. He’s just being contrarian but surely that’s alright because too much agreement is suffocating.
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sanjana
July 18, 2016
When I said big films like Salman’s, I meant that if they can be reviewed why cant GGM? Why to differentiate? I dont say they should not be reviewed. I said if GGM cannot be reviewed why not some others too?
As for second viewing of regional films, it is because on second viewing one can get more meanings which one missed in the first viewing. Not at all derogatory to regional films.
Regional is relative. Atleast for me. For me mainstream is not bollywood or hollywood but films made in my mother tongue.
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sanjana
July 18, 2016
Quality of engagement is the reason one comes here even if it does not change perceptions. One can improve one’s vocabulary as well as get some gyan about some songs of the past and their meanings in today’s context
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MANK
July 18, 2016
Madan, i have no problem with anybody being contrarian. if everybody agrees on everything that’s been written, then there would be no healthy discussion.
Well what THAT commenter used to do was to intentionally adopt a contrarian view to that of Brangan’s in post after post – to bait him – and hammer down his POV as the ultimate gospel
Well i have read Kadakumar in other posts too, i am not saying he is anything like THAT commenter. But he seems to me to be going down that path. thats why i was just wondering. may be he has his good reasons
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KadaKumar
July 18, 2016
Its funny how my comments have been misconstrued as “unsolicited advice” deserving of being banned for! I am not dictating what Brangan should write on (even if I did, he is not obliged to listen to me). All you jalras can relax.
All I said was that critics seem to pounce on low-brow sex comedies with cliched observations about glaring faults (if they can even be called that, given the genre) that everybody (including the movie’s crew, I suspect) are fully aware of. So such reviews simply become an exercise in autofellatio for second-rate reviewers to brandish their discerning tastes and progressive worldviews. I’d love to be proved wrong on this, so show me one review of any Indian sex-comedy which includes even a hint of praise. And without all the tired old -isms thrown in, which might as well be accepted as a characteristic of the genre.
But now, my eyes, hitherto blocked by the lal chaddi, have been opened. Really, I had not a clue what that lal chaddi thing was about. And frankly, I still don’t. Sorry about that. Not an avid follower of Hindi cinema, you see. To be honest, I get frustrated when Brangan writes about Hindi cinema, since while I look forward to his writing in general, most Bolly-specific cultural references fly right above my head. That doesn’t happen much in his (unfortunately sporadic) reviews of “regional” movies, since everybody is on the same plane there.
@Brangan: Do you actually have a large reader-base in those mysterious lands north of the Vindhyas? And if not, are you consciously trying to build one? You have a good thing going on down here. Please be a Dhanush, not an Asin.
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sanjana
July 18, 2016
I think Delhi Belly received praise if we can call it a sex comedy. Also Dostana. Correct me if I am wrong.
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sanjana
July 18, 2016
Why should one be frog in the well?
Smell coffee and also tea.
Mera Bharat mahaan.
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Madan
July 18, 2016
MANK: Nah, esp reading his uber-presumptuous Vindhyas comment – how cliche, seriously – he just sounds like an opinionated 20 something guy (ahem, a younger version of myself though I didn’t venture THAT far, or so I’d like to think). He MIGHT start to relax and take it easy over the next few years or he might lose interest in this place as it seems to cater to an at least slightly older age group than his.
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Madan
July 18, 2016
“Smell coffee and also tea.” – For some reason, that reminds me of the time I and my Marwari boss were going by road from Bangalore to Mysore and stopped over at a restaurant by the highway for snacks. We were also accompanied by our counsel (some legal hearing, basically) who is also Tamil. We (I and the counsel) loved the kaapi but my boss couldn’t finish even half tumbler. Another time, when my office had a Kerala food festival, a colleague – also a Marwari – rated it ‘decent, nothing more’ and I was like “You’re kidding me, this was awesome”. Goes to show ‘they’ too find it difficult to absorb ‘our’ culture and cuisine. In fact, I would say the North Indian cuisine you get in Chennai is better than the South Indian cuisine you get in Mumbai, generally speaking.
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Radhakrishnan M V
July 18, 2016
This is not about the review. More about the movie. I have not seen this particular movie yet. But personally, I do need these kind of low brow, silly comedies to wind down. There are evenings like that. For me, Naked gun, Mel Brooks movies, There is something about Mary, etc. Unfortunately, in Tamil I am yet to see a movie like that. MMKR falls under intelligent comedy. “Tamil Padam” meets that criteria.
@BR: BTW, table scene you talk about, is there in Mel Brooks’s “The Silent Movie” – where the studio directors give their opinion on Raquel Welch!!
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MANK
July 18, 2016
“esp reading his uber-presumptuous Vindhyas comment – how cliche,”
Madan, you could just be right. I just realized that myself. when i read his latest comment. i might have overreacted. Haven’t been around here for some time, you know
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Rahul
July 18, 2016
” I try to keep abreast of trends, however shallow, because it all adds up to the pop-cultural climate. It’s also some kind of cultural record. I may be mistaken in thinking this culture even needs to be recorded, but FWIW, that’s what I feel I am doing now.”
Extremely well articulated BR, as usual. I seek out and watch movies in literally scores of languages, but with Bollywood, I also have to know the business of cinema, the trends, the archetypes, the rivalries etc. It is as if bollywood is one big never ending novel for me, and reading your blog and commenting on it is a significant part of the experience.
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Kid
July 18, 2016
MANK: Thank you, but as far as covering the length and breath of Indian cinema is concerned, let us be a little frank here- I doubt I have even seen half as much cinema as you have (am i am only restricting myself to Indian cinema here). I am actually not sure if there would be too many commenters on this blog who are anywhere near you in this regard (and we are talking about a blog which is easily the most important “adda” for discussing films in India where many of the commenters are so good that they are “stars” in their own right). But really thank you. And man, you (and Kaykay and Olemisstarana and Anu and Shalini- Anu and Shalini seem to be the only people here who would possibly be interested in talking about someone like Biswajeet or a film like Fakira! I still wait for the day that when BR mentions a film like Padosi in his review- something he actually did not too long ago- and we would end up discussing it over here. I am emphasising on Padosi here because while this is an important film of this period- even if this is less a film, more a sermon which is a pretty common with the Shantaram socials- it is not considered a quintessential Shantaram film today in the way something like Jhanak Jhanak Paayal Baaje or Do Aankhen Haarah Haath or even Dr Kotnis are. And yet BR referenced this film) need to comment more often here. I hope your personal issues get solved quickly so that you can become more “regular” here. I am saying this because in your absence the “cinema” (and by cinema i mean, discussion “on and about” films, and not “around” them) part of the blog-discussions takes a backseat here (then again if “cinema” has to take give way for something like the recent blog-discussion- which I just read, really a hat-tip to folks who started the petition, I really want to contribute to it in whatever way I can- on stalking in Tamil films, I am all for it. In other words, from you I learn about cinema, from Iswarya I learn about life).
Madan: Man, don’t be so harsh on the twentysomethings, I am myself one 🙂 , More seriously, and considering the fact that Kadakumar’s north-of-Vindhyas is targeted towards me (he can correct me if I am wrong), I will say that I think Kadakumar is simply being provocative with that comment. I doubt he is one of those Tamil-chauvinists, Hindi-bashing guys (though, and I say this as someone who is very much a Hindi-heartland guy who knows who only hindi and English, I would prefer a Tamil-chauvinist to a Hindi one because the latter can be far more “dangerous” than the former), Because if a commenter of his skill and intelligence really means what he is saying here, it’s a little sad. What is equally sad is that some people are accusing him of giving unsolicited advice of Rangan. I think it’s important to sometimes (not always) look past the tone in the comment to see the meat in it. As I said, from whatever I have read of Kadakumar, “provocation” seems to be the mode he usually operates in (and i wish he would go a little easy on it, that tone belies his intelligence), but I think it’s fair to see that he brings a really unique, singular voice to the proceedings here.
BR: You are being far too kind Sir. Thank you.
Kadakumar: I think it’s fair to say that you have no particular interest in engaging with me in a meaningful discussion, to answer your question, actually very recently an English language Indian film (made by a Bengali director Q- whose mode is actually not to dissimilar from yours- on an average day, like when makes stuff like Gandu, he is only interested in showing a ‘fuck you” sign to the world. On that one rare day- I am talking about Tasher Desh- he is still showing that fuck you sign, but he is also interested in something more than that alongwith showcasing some real formal skills. Now I have little interest in the guy who makes Gandu, but I actually prefer the Tasher Desh guy to a lot of the other “edgier” directors in the country), “Brahman Naman”, got some pretty good reviews (even from some international critics). Even otherwise, and let’s stick to south of Vindhyas, Trisha Illana Nayanthara got some pretty decent reviews (BR himself found it pretty decent). I have already mentioned Delhi Belly. But leaving this aside, I have issues with the way you have framed this question (and the arguement). I mean how many Indian sex-comedies have been made till now in the first place. There is the Masti franchise (3 films here. Actually the first one here isn’t the worst film around), there was Kyaa Kool Hai Hum and it sequel (the first one wasn’t all that bad, but the sequel sucked.. think both got poor reviews), there was Mastizaade (this too was ripped by the critics) and there was Delhi Belly (admittedly this wasn’t only a sex-comedy, but the sex-comedy bit was the one which got people to theatres in the first place. This of course pretty good reviews). In Tamil, other than TIN, there was that insipid Delhi Belly remake. And, I really can’t think of anything else. There have been a few pretty decent Bengali films in this space, but that’s really about it.
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Kid
July 19, 2016
On a somewhat related note, a “condom-inspired” homage to Sholay from what still remains my favourite Hindi film of its kind (this is how you blend “smart” with the “silly”)- watch from watch 1:33 mark-
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Iswarya
July 19, 2016
MANK: You missed a lot of action here. When I saw somebody had signed the petition yesterday with the name “Manesh Krishnan,” especially saying he loves films a lot and all, I was wondering if that was a legit sighting of you. BTW, thanks for signing, if that really was you. 🙂
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KadaKumar
July 19, 2016
@MANK @Madan I’m flattered that you have such high expectations of my writing that a passing inclusion of a cliche disappoints you so much. Its cute how my comment is being ridiculed for including one little cliche (if you can call it that, though I think its really more of a euphemism- to refer to “northies”, which you might have found crude and racist and blah blah, I’d settle for a safe cliche instead) when every damned sex-comedy review is one dull collection of cliches.
But whats so “presumptuous” about that question? Do you even know the meaning of that word? (I’m waiting for your next comment pulling me up for this- the word is “condescending” just so you don’t mess up again).
At one point of time, if I remember right, Brangan’s reviews were mostly for Tamil films. But these days, there is almost equal space for Bollywood, if not more. So I was wondering why, especially when the Hindu is still largely a southern newspaper with a filter-coffee audience (more cliches for you, sorry about that). Not to mention, there are other Hindu reviewers solely reserved for Hindi movies. I mean, we now have Bollywood FM channels in Chennai, and every day the MetroPlus carries some top Hindi radio countdown or something. Feels like a sinister part of a larger Hindi-imposition campaign. Where Bollywood is shoved in as a Trojan horse.
Also enough with these silly twenty-something accusations (how ageist!). Happened a few times earlier too. As if its a crime to be twenty-something and hold an opinion. Yes, I am in my twenties. And I have opinions which i tend to voice, deal with it. And they may disagree with your opinions. No, just because you might have a bald patch and a paunch doesn’t make you a repository of wisdom whose opinions are necessarily more valid than mine. And no, even when I get older, I needn’t share the views you hold today, so don’t go all “you’ll realize when you get older and more mature” patronizing bullshit on me. Thats a worse form of arrogance than the one you might accuse me of.
I come here to read Brangan’s writing, not to play bingo with you dinosaurs. My comments are general and mostly addressed to Brangan, and not to you guys (unless you invite that upon yourselves). I can see that the threads are mostly filled with a small clique of (proudly old?) sycophants who suck each other off and hiss at intruders, and you guys don’t like me pooping in your orgy. I can respect that. A nice peaceful little community you’ve built here. Ya ya, I totally get it- I’m young and stupid and opinionated and all that, and I am not welcome in your little club. But this being a public forum, I might still drop in now and then, so you might as well learn to ignore me.
I don’t know who THAT legendary other commentor is, but going by your hallowed references to him, he sounds like a swell guy. However, I don’t intend getting banned, unless disagreeing (and maybe throwing attitude, being “presumptuous”, opinionated, etc.) is grounds for banning. I hope not.
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nona
July 19, 2016
Branga – on sex comedies, where is the Brahman Naman review? If you dont have Netflix, ask any quizzing friend of yours..
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Rahini David
July 19, 2016
Kadakumar:
Its cute how my comment is being ridiculed for including one little cliche …. when every damned sex-comedy review is one dull collection of cliches.
Hmmm. Not this one. This one is simply rocking.
I come here to read Brangan’s writing, not to play bingo with you dinosaurs.
Thank Goodness Gracious for that. I was really confused about it.
[……. ]I can respect that.
Yes, you can. But no, you won’t.
I don’t know who THAT legendary other commentor is, but going by your hallowed references to him, he sounds like a swell guy.
He was. No question about it.
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sanjana
July 19, 2016
Shaukeen starring Rati agnihotri comes to my mind. It was bold for those times. Three oldies chasing a young girl.
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brangan
July 19, 2016
KadaKumar: At one point of time, if I remember right, Brangan’s reviews were mostly for Tamil films.
Actually, no. I began writing Hindi film reviews for Madras Plus and then became Hindi film critic for the New Indian Express. Then moved to Hindu as English film critic. So through this entire duration, I wrote Tamil film reviews only for the blog. It’s only after I became Tamil film critic here — just a couple of years ago — that the Tamil reviews have become plentiful. (Of course, I used to write about Tamil films in columns, but I am talking about reviews here.)
Also, I do have a lot of readers following the reviews of Hindi films. It’s just that many of them don’t comment here.
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ThouShaltNot
July 19, 2016
The illogic (not just this thread) is beginning to grate…Skepticism is fine (in general), but isn’t obnoxiousness (mingled with recalcitrance) to be disdained?
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KadaKumar
July 19, 2016
@Brangan: Thanks for clearing that up.
@Kid: I didn’t realize that I was discussing anything with you in particular. But now that you brought it up, let me say that I do agree with what you said (see? I am not here to just be an agent provocateur). If Brangan reviews lesser-known gems from other industries, I’m all for it. Thats more nourishing than taking the lazy way out by trashing an intentionally dim-witted Bollywood sex-comedy made for a less discerning audience. But I suppose professional constraints play spoilsport. Brangan is certainly achieving a shrewd compromise through his blog, and thats welcome.
Delhi Belly can hardly be called a sex-comedy. It was a straightforward heist-and-chase story soiled by a bit of diarrhea for shock value. Personally, I never saw what the fuss was about, but in hindsight, I applaud the marketing team for manufacturing edginess out of an otherwise ordinary story. A song with a bad word and all, how so edgy!
You’re right that there aren’t too many archetypal sex comedies made in India in the first place. The few that are made are self-righteously thrashed by reviewers who simply don’t understand that much of their “criticisms” are all accepted tropes of the genre itself. We’ll just have to wait and see how things change.
As for the Tamil chauvinism bit, I can’t be a Tamil chauvinist or Hindi hater, I have northie friends (!). But seriously, I do have some opinions on this, especially in the context of cinema, which I’d like to put out there for whatever its worth. And since you brought it up, this is where I’ll take that liberty.
But before I’m jumped on for acting like a self-appointed custodian of Tamil identity, let me repeat the tired disclaimer that I speak only for myself. So if I use “we”, its more of a royal we, the editorial, you know…Feel free to skip the remaining part of this comment if you’re too patriotic or too broad-minded or too whatever-it-is-that-makes-you-feel-superior.
\begin{rant}
I’m all for enjoying movies of all languages. But not at the cost of Tamil cinema.
Of course, with Tamils, you can’t bulldoze your way through like you might have done in Bangalore. Speak to Bangaloreans and you’ll see that they aren’t very happy about this encroachment of Bollywood in their cultural landscape, since Kannada cinema, soft and poor, is no match for the mega-Bollywood-media-business juggernaut.
In Tamil territory, such an outright invasion is less feasible thanks to the vigilance and sheer pride of the Tamils, but a British-style step-by-step colonization is not off the table. We can feel Bollywood trying to creep into our space. One radio play at a time. One Hindu article at a time. They have the financial clout to win over allies in the media to further their cause- much like the petty maharajas who gave in to the Brits in exchange for trinkets. Slowly but surely, they can colonize our cultural space too. And abet the inevitable extinction of our colorful commercial cinema, reducing our cinema to yet another tiny niche market of award-winning realistic innovative movies that everybody wants to be seen appreciating, but nobody wants to see.
That we cannot abide.
I know I sound like one of those “my religion is under threat” type paranoid fanatics. But knowing Bollywood, this doomsday scenario is not entirely ridiculous. After all, Bollywood can manufacture hits simply by buying over the media and bombarding their content at us incessantly until our resistance wears out and we yield simply out of exasperation. Case in point: Shiela ki jawani. Every minute, we were constantly being told by the media that its such a hit, its such a sensation, this celeb loves it, that celeb hates it, ad nauseum. Until we bought into that conspiracy and actually made a dull forgettable song a hit, by all tangible parameters! Such is the power of constant bombardment: you notice it, you hate the fuss, you’re better than the supposed sheep, you cool down, finally what-the-heck you yield to the din and join in. Bollywood marketing is built on this sick psychological manipulation.
This is where Rajini stands out. The fans he has amassed are a brotherhood bonded by admiration; not mercenaries bought by any marketing team (wish I could say this in Tamil!). And thats how Tamil cinema is in general. Its not mere entertainment. Its much more than that. Its like a secret cupboard filled with all our favorite childhood artifacts.
And we have to protect it from the rich seth who wants to buy the territory and displace its residents, with the connivance of the more gullible ones among them. We are all Velu Naickers. Too many mangled metaphors, but thats only because the issue is emotionally resonant.
Now you might say I am simply romanticizing a form of chauvinism. Why make it sound like an ominous callback to India’s depressing history of submission to crafty outsiders? Why make such a big deal out of simply enjoying a Hindi movie side-by-side with regional movies? We are all INDIANS, right? Why can’t we all love each other, and sit together around a fire and sing kumbaya (in Hindi, our national language)?
We certainly can and that’ll be awesome, if there’s reciprocity. Reciprocity is the foundation of trust. One-sided compromise only foments resentment and suspicion of hegemony.
Do you know even a little Tamil? Do you watch Tamil movies? Do you listen to Tamil music? Do you appreciate Tamil pop-culture references?
I’ll safely assume the answer to these questions is a defiant, even unapologetic, negative. No, a meta “Rajini is so cool” and familiarity with that abomination called the lungi dance do not count.
Until there’s at least an earnest willingness towards reciprocity, don’t self-righteously throw around labels like Tamil chauvinists simply for resisting your attempts to foist your culture on us.
\end{rant}
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Madan
July 19, 2016
“However, I don’t intend getting banned, unless disagreeing (and maybe throwing attitude, being “presumptuous”, opinionated, etc.) is grounds for banning.” – Actually if you bothered to read – which I doubt – I was the one who told MANK that I don’t see how your behaviour resembles THAT commenter nor why it deserves a ban. You are just being contrarian, which is fine. But yeah, you would do well to actually read before you respond so I am going to make a sincere request here: please don’t put an @ and my name next to it if you haven’t read my responses. I am not interested in having to point out what I did or didn’t write. It’s your job to read before you respond. If that is too much trouble, just don’t bother to respond, that’s perfectly fine too. I don’t really think the rest of your comment merits a response because I did not call you stupid. I only said you are opinionated. Which you are and maybe you will realise why in a few years time, maybe not. But I am allowed to state how I perceive your comments to be. As for why I used the word presumptuous, you will find the answer in BRangan’s comment. He was writing more of Hindi reviews in the beginning and basically has always been writing Hindi reviews. He’s not becoming Asin NOW, regrettably already was. So your advice was presumptuous; you rushed in without knowing what’s going on.
Lastly, I am not bald and unless you yourself play it at an intermediate or advanced level, I will destroy you in a game of tennis. Like, double bagel you or something. Goodbye.
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Madan
July 19, 2016
@ Kid: I wasn’t being harsh on all twenty somethings, only the opinionated ones. 😉 Besides, I was only relating it to my years in the twenties. You may not like the sound of it but a lot of stuff does happen in life by the time you are into your thirties. Soon you will come to know. 😉
And I don’t think Kadakumar is being chauvinist. I think sanjana summed it up perfectly: frog in the well syndrome. It’s harmless but makes for amusing reading.
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Kid
July 19, 2016
Sanjana: Yes, Shaukeen was pretty bold for those times (and a slightly atypical Basu Chatterjee film) though not really a sex comedy. And who would have thought about casting A K Hangal in “that” role. Then again, Chatterjee gave him his best role (other than Sholay of course) in Manzil- another fine piece of casting an actor against type. BTW Hrishikesh Mukherjee also tried his hand (with disastrous results) in the genre with a film called Sabse Bada Sukh.
KadaKumar: As far as I know “presumptive” and “presumptuous” are often used interchangeably (hey, atleast some of us Northies use it that way 🙂 ). By the way, do you always resort to bluster when you find yourself out of sorts while responding to a comment?! And don’t worry, no one is going to use that word- “condescending”- w.r.t you because it will take a lot from you to get a rise out of us. Also there is no inherent quality (or goodness for that matter) in being “opinionated” (or contrarian for that matter) so no point in flashing like it a badge of honour.
And “Southies’ must have really poor taste in music if “our” songs are dominating your music charts (or atleast has found a way into them). This inspite of the fact that Tamil musicians are as good as the Hindi ones if not better (I doubt Ghibran is in any way “lesser” than Amit Trivedi). You know, it’s really sad that some native speakers of Tamil language feel threatened by Hindi and accuse ‘us’ somehow taking over and corrupting Tamil culture- i mean here is a language (Tamil) which in some ways is the greatest language alive (perhaps even more ‘vital” than Latin in a lot of ways) and yet some of its speakers display this kind of repulsive chauvinism. No one, absolutely no one, would deny the fact that there is as much chauvinism in the “north” as it is in the “South” if not more (no one is also denying the rather “forgettable” history between the two languages. It was really unfortunate how some of our leaders tried to force Hindi down everyone’s gullet). But if some Tamilians believe that they are the “better” (i.e more liberal and accepting) of the two, should they try and remain “better” or should they try and become like the Northies?! Yes, a FAR bigger responsibility lies on our (Northies) shoulders considering “we” probably indulge in far more regionalism than an average, normative Tamilian (or “Southie”) does (and that the fact that “we” are still a majority in this country on the language front so the responsibility lies far more on “our” side than the other one). And “we” ought to (WE MUST) do something about it (this is precisely why I believe I can tolerate a Tamil chauvinist, but not a Hindi one). But if “we” continue to behave like a bunch of assholes, should “you” do the “same”?! Then again what do I know?! Probably what I am suggesting is a very difficult thing to do. I guess that is why you have some folks here (thankfully the number is very small) throwing out jellybean conspiracy theories regarding all of this.
Oh and Kadakumar, just about every important Tamil actor (or technician) wants to be recognized in that mysterious land above the Vindhyas (right from the days of Kamal and Rajini) though no male actor has ever made it big here (and that’s only because of the cultural barriers). Bollywood sadly enjoys that cultural hegemony today (and Chennai is hardly immune to its charms!). I know that the trashiest of Salman films create waves at the Chennai box-office (btw which Tamil film has ever come close to doing so In Bombay). On the other hand a film like Saamy (a film which belongs to the same genre as most of Salman starrers, but is a much better than film than most Salman ones) would do “nothing” in Delhi it might do a some business in Bombay because of the Tamil population, but that’s really about it). So Kadakumar, why don’t folks like you drive away this virus called Bollywood by not watching “our” films. I mean everytime a big film opens in Tamil Nadu, a Tamil film ends up losing a good amount of screens (I can only imagine what would have happened to Visaranai- the finest Indian film i have seen this year as of now- had it released with Sultan). So yes, blame our big, bad Bollywood (Hindi culture) all you want, but before that blame your audiences for lapping up the “shit” we serve you. The day an Onaayum Aattukkuttiyum becomes a hit in Tamil Nadu, that day you won’t need to go on this anti-N.Indian diatribe. We know that most commenters here are serious cinephiles, we also know that most of them are “Southies” and yet how many times have you seen a commenter mention about a film called Porkkalam (no, not the Cheran film, but a hell-of-a-movie made by this guy called Bandi Saroj Kumar which came out in 2010)?! Alright, how many people do you know who have heard of the film and its director?! This was a superb film, a stunning debut effort and, formally and stylistically, remains possibly the strongest Tamil film of this decade (once you take the genre into account.i will also take it over Hindi film of the same/similar genre.which has released in this decade). I was so impressed by it that I have already seen it twice and that too without subtitles (I hope someone tells the director to release a subtitled copy on the net). I am not trying to put the commenters on spot or anything. All I am saying is that if you want to shoo away Bollywood (I don’t see how this would be a useful exercise, but to be honest I don’t quite see anything morally/ethically wrong with this approach either), you ought to make sure you “respect” our own films by watching them in the theatres. A rant against Hindi and Bollywood gets you nowhere.
I am trying not to take a moral high ground here (I am not doing a favour to anyone by watching Tamil films. I watch them because i enjoy them, not because Tamil cinema is in need of a North Indian audience. Actually the last bit is not completely true, a lot of the smaller, interesting Tamil films can also become commercially sustainable if they can somehow find a reasonably good distribution model for these films in other states). And I know I took the “north of Vindhyas” bait as well, but the reason I said all of this was because I have believed that NO ONE (no actor, no director) has done more to further the cause of Tamil cinema among North Indians than Baradwaj Rangan and the commenters on this blog (strange as this might seem, Mysskin’s cinema would mean nothing to a non-Tamilian in the absence of BR’s writings on his work. BR’s book, has in some way, made Rathnam relevant again among non-Tamilians. If any of you think I don’t know what I am talking about here do one thing, ask your non-Tamil acquaintances whether they know about Mysskin. if someone does reply in the affirmative, ask him/her whether he has read Baradwaj Rangan on the director or not?! you will get your answer. And let me not stop here. i would wager that a good number of North Indians who take Tamil cinema seriously would not only be religiously following the writings of BR, but would also be aware of the names/aliases of many of the many commenters here) so I find it a little disconcerting when one reads this sort of a comment (and especially, as i suspect, that the commenter is only doing so to rile people).
“And if not, are you consciously trying to build one? You have a good thing going on down here. Please be a Dhanush, not an Asin”?
Isn’t this the Rathnam problem?! That once you make three of your most ambitious films in Hindi, you somehow become a “traitor”. That somehow Soodhu Kavvum is considered “edgy” (and what not), but Ayutha Ezhuthu, Kannathil and Raavanan are considered as unmitigated failures. You know sometimes I wonder what would happened if Ek Duje Ke Liye wouldn’t have been a flash in the pan and Kamal would have become successful in Bollywood. He would have become too “Bombay” for Chennai, right?
BR: What do you think could be the reason for you having fewer non-Tamil/North Indian commenters here even though you enjoy very healthy readership in these parts? I am interested in knowing this. i mean you have always consistently written on Hindi films and yet there are not enough commenters to comment on those pieces.
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MANK
July 19, 2016
Kid, thanks. But the rate at which you seem to be consuming cinema, you will soon be teaching me about both films and life. 🙂
And reg: Padosi , i can understand why it is not considered the typical shantaram film,it was made during his pre Rajkamal days and he was yet to develop his trademark aesthetic or his voice as filmmaker But the period and context in which the film was made (Pre independence era, the rising communal tension between hindus and muslims) could mark it as one of VS’s most important works. Also you can sense the echo of his old films in his more grander , expansive Rajkamal productions, say Padosi in Do aankhen barah haath or duniya na mane in Navrang.
And talking about sex comedies, Nothing beats Girish Karnad’s Utsav for me. Even though its a perfect blend of Romance,politics, fantasy etc, i like to look at it as a great sex comedy with Rekha at her most sultry and sensous and a knockout supporting cast.. A movie about sex – being about vatsayana and all- and it was so incredibly funny, this one is a true ROFL scene. just watch Amjad Khan’s performance at the end.
Another one would be KB’S Manmadhaleelai,
btw Kadakumar’s description of us as sycophant’s at an orgy reminds me of Kubrick’s Eyes wide shut 🙂 – which is a favorite of mine. even though it is a film hard to categorise , i do look at that film as a kind of (black) sex comedy.
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Kid
July 19, 2016
BR: A sincere request. Could you do something about this moderation thingy (I wonder why every comment has to go under moderation). i mean i had already posted my last comment without reading Kadakumar’s previous comment simply because his comment wasn’t even there on the blog then. I wouldn’t have said a lot of what I said there had I seen that comment of his. All ofn this really sucks the oxygen out of a discussion. Thanks.
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brangan
July 19, 2016
Kid: What do you think could be the reason for you having fewer non-Tamil/North Indian commenters here even though you enjoy very healthy readership in these parts?
I don’t know. I think the comments come and go in phases. Like Tamasha and Bajirao got a ton of comments (though the latter, eventually, became an almost-private two-way discussion). This happens with Tamil too.
But I seriously don’t have an answer.
BTW, wrote about Porkalam here:
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MANK
July 19, 2016
Iswarya, you’re welcome. yes that would be me. I see that my love of films is a dead giveaway 🙂
Also, i see what you mean be ‘missing the Action’. i finished reading the comments in the broad reflections post also. god i see a hell of a lot of action out there with even poor Brangan at the receiving end of a lot of fury from you people. i certainly seems to have missed a good discussion 😀
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Madan
July 19, 2016
MANK: We seem to have a strange phenomenon going on these days in the blog wherein the biggest threads are not about films (or they start with something to do with films and then explode because of something else, like that apex thread). Methinks not enough Money/Raja/Rahman topics to really stoke the fire, muhahaha. Of course Kabali is on the way; that should be fun. 😉
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MANK
July 19, 2016
Of course Kabali is on the way; that should be fun.
Madan, yeah i am counting on that too. 🙂 . but i do have a sneaky suspicion that even there we will be discussing a lot of things other than cinema. just wait and watch 😀
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Vivek Gupta
July 19, 2016
@KadaKumar: I am a northie, don’t know any Tamil but I love Rangan’s blog on both Tamil and Hindi movies, love both Rajini and Kamal, love ARR and Raja. I disagree with a lot of what you said but man I love the way you say it. You sure know how to arrange words in an order that is a pleasure to read. Keep going and please don’t get banned 🙂
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sanjana
July 20, 2016
Worrying about cultural invasion. I can understand it. A strong culture can withstand this invasion if it encourages good literature, good films and other cultural weapons. Linguistic division of states gives states the power to favour the local culture and local language. But one cant control minds. If some tamilians prefer hindi or english movies over tamil movies, one cant coerce them not to.
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Apu
July 20, 2016
Probably it is time to say it: I am a non-Tamil reader and a BIG fan of this blog. Why don’t I comment more often? It is because I do not get to see/watch much cinema nowadays due to having no time for myself after a job and a kid and household work. But I love cinema and this blog helps me “see” it.
(I probably did not need to comment this time too, but I thought I should do it lest BR thinks that his reviews are not appreciated.)
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Jaga_Jaga
July 20, 2016
Here is an alternate proof for the phrase “sex sells”.
BR’s post for this movie has more comments than Sultan + Paisa + Dilluku Duddu + Adra Machaan visilu + Jackson Durai + Shorgul + Appa
Hence proved.
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Amit Upadhyaya
July 20, 2016
It’s oddly funny to see/read people argue over TWO languages in a country with 22 official ones. (And 38 waiting to be added.)
Almost seems to suggest that there is some kind of ‘unity’ and a risk of some sort of cultural colonization. Hilarious that people can suggest that.
That apart, I spent the last one hour reading these 1000-words-long one-to-ones and had a great time.
@Baradwaj Rangan: With due respect sir, you really seem to be running a show over here! 🙂
P.S: Not a frequent commentator.
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South In North
July 21, 2016
Another regular, non-Tamil reader and rare commenter raising hand!
Could it be that there are fewer comments on Hindi reviews because (unlike Tamil and may be, Telugu?) these movies are just… entertainment. General audiences are more detached, and do not dwell on or delve into movies post-show, IMO. While rabid fandom exists, that is regardless of the worth of the movie, and rarely involves ripping movies down, scene after scene. So while the Hindi speaking junta here loves reading BR, may be they are physiologically not tuned to discuss as much about movies?
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P
July 21, 2016
Kadakumar would be either happy or furious to know that the poor Bangaloreans/Kannadigas of the chauvinist mentality that he is feeling so bad for hate Tamil movies much more than they do Hindi movies. It infuriates them that the Tamilians manage to make movies that captivate all four south states and a lot of the north too while their stars languish and have to make way for the Thalaivar everytime his movie releases. (Tomorrow is a holiday in Bangalore!! Wish I was back there. Will have to make do with watching it in Matunga I guess 😛 )
Could it then be said that the insidious marketing tactics that Hindi film makers adapt to Trojan Horse the south are also adapted by Tamil movie makers to Trojan horse the other three non-Tamil speaking states?
There is something called free will. Much as the marketing whizkids (mea culpa, I am one of them!) would like to believe that we can bamboozle people psychologically so that they zombie-like listen to us in all their purchasing choices, mass delusion is not a possibility (yet! the geniuses in the Client Servicing department dont know that though 😛 ).
People like what they like for far more complicated yet simple reasons. English films are cooler than Hindi films are cooler than Tamil films are cooler than Telugu films are cooler than Kannada films. Deal with it.
Personally I didn’t particularly think this review was funny but Kid’s comments gave me so much more context (thank you for that!), and goddamn it, a man should be allowed to review what he wishes to on his own blog for god’s sake!
PS: BR I saw what you did there with the Bajirao Mastani reference 😛 (nope, I am still quite proud of that thread 😛 )
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anujsharma587
July 21, 2016
Off topic, but about bollywood box office :
Now we have bogus box office websites well known for fabricating and fudging numbers passing judgements on the so-called television “disasters” like Airlift, Neerja and Kapoor & Sons :
http://boxofficeindia.com/report-details.php?articleid=2172
The kind of sources are the antithesis for the cozy club of elites & pseudo intellectuals who make icons out of the likes of Anurag Kashyap and Vishal Bharadwaj. Factually, both sides of the spectrum are detrimental to an analysis based on facts and figures. Now someone needs to tell these dimwits at boxofficeindia that television viewership is not restricted to the Star Gold’s and Set Max’s of the world in today’s age. Viewers who watch Airlft or Kapoor & Sons on Tata Sky/Airtel Digital TV would obviously not catch up with them on Star Gold. And there is NO measure of TRP’s for films releasing on digital TV. Not even by the bogus fudgers calling themselves “boxofficeindia”. I’m quite surprised why no one from within the industry has taken this website to court in the last 13 years since its inception. No wonder even the ever so manipulative Taran Adarsh has more credibility and followers than this joke of a website called “boxofficeindia.com” who claim to be the know it all of Bollywood since the last 6 decades, be it collections or footfalls. What more amusing is that there are viewers who’re willing to take their lies at face value!
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Rahul
July 21, 2016
My theory about why north indians do not grace movie blogs in large numbers- the absence of a binary like Kamal vs Rajnikant or Ilayaraja vs Rahman. As an analogy, I reckon most of the tennis fans online are loyal and passionate fans of either Federer or Nadal or Nole and want to let others know why the object of their fandom is the greatest ever.
Us north indians did have a binary handed out to us starting from the historic and mysterious spat at Katrina Kaifs birthday party – and for a few years we could take up cudgels on behalf of our favorite Bhai – writing Salmaniac for life or Srkian forever in our twitter bios, but , though the momentous group hug in Baba Siddiquis iftar party may have been singularly important for world peace, it took away that binary as well.
Amitabh Bachchan is the greatest star , RDB is the greatest music director and the new stars after the three Khans are all alike, emasculated and incestous – they either have filmstar DNA , or are buddies with filmstar DNA or are going out with filmstar DNA – hence they keep tweeting and retweeting about how awesome each others movies are and how fabulous they all look. There are no real rivalries.
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Iswarya
July 21, 2016
Feeling very evil today, for a wonder. So, let me stoke the fires of the North/South debate by chipping in with this:
http://www.bangaloremirror.com/columns/views/South-Indians-fast-becoming-rare-in-south-Heres-why/articleshow/51916868.cms
Narayana, narayana! 😀
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brangan
July 21, 2016
P: That wasn’t a dig. I was just saying that a large portion of the comments was a sort-of back and forth between 2 people.
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tonks
July 21, 2016
Going by how quickly Hindi, Tamil, and English movies get changed in the theatres here (you begin to hear there’s a movie playing and before you can think of a suitable day to watch it, you hear it’s no longer running), I’d think that most Malayalees prefer movies in their native language. Though now, with multiplexes, some non- Malayalam movies do manage to straggle on (with one or two shows in a tiny theatre of a complex) for more than one week.
Kabali seems to be an exception though : there is a lot of hype here and I heard that the first days are all booked up already.
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Honest Raj (formerly 'V'enkatesh)
July 21, 2016
anujsharma587: You’re right about boxofficeindia.com! At one point in time, they used to maintain box-office records of films belonging to the pre-Kismet era:
https://web.archive.org/web/20131014091621/http://boxofficeindia.com/showProd.php?itemCat=121&catName=MTk0MC0xOTQ5
As a matter of fact, BO figures in India are clearly inflated. This piece might interest you:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20141117181320-221718153-only-9-watchers-a-movie-goes-the-biggest-hit-in-india
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Madan
July 22, 2016
@ Iswarya: I actually don’t understand the rationale for setting a birth rate target that is below the replacement rate. Is it based on the assumption that in any case all Indian states are populated? In any case, the Western world is at the receiving end of Malthus now so the Planning Commission (now defunct anyway) should not follow those outdated approaches to birth control.
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Garvit V Sharma
July 22, 2016
@Kadakumar I never expected that I would ever trip upon such outdated protectionist ramblings on such a reverent blogspace of Mr Rangan.The Tamil movies I have seen are of Kamal Haasan and others which I can count on my fingers.While in college we used to hold screening of Telugu movies because we could find subtitles for them but Tamil movies always disappointed us on that front.When Anurag Kashyap recommended Tamil movies as the best gangster ones after release of GOWasseypur,we dutifully downloaded them but couldn’t find subtitles for any of them.For one of Kamal’s movies when we couldnt find subs we got hold of a web developer from Chennai who arranged the subs for us in a month.So,maybe,Mr Protectionist you could advise your holy industry to learn from their Telugu counterparts and start providing subtitles for your highly fraternized movie releases.
Cant you take a modicum of inspiration from Iranian movie industry.Forget encroachment,despite brutal suppression and unimaginary rules of censorship,they have bouldered consistently to give one of the most universal and heart-touching cinema of the past three decades.Korean and Japanese movies though technically superior but much similar to Indian aesthetics of revenge have made it at international level without being as protectionist that would have been to your liking.
And last of your all,you need to come out of whatever utopian of a shell you reside in to get how consumption of Tamil and Telugu movies dubbed in Hindi has increased manifolds in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. You would have never heard of this Hindi journalist called Ravish Kumar of NDTV.While covering Bihar elections he got knocked out of his mind as you would have been at finding out that most popular heroes at that time among Bihar youth were Mahesh Babu,Allu Arjun and Prabhas. Ravish had never heard of them but I was not surprised. You would always be welcome at my home in Meerut where you will catch my father religiously watching “Madrasi” movies dubbed in Hindi on all, I repeat all Hindi movie channels.What started with Nagarjuna starrer Mass as disruption has become totally normal.The number of Prime Time slots given to Telugu and Tamil action masala movies is already more than that alloted to Hindi blockbusters.So guess what, Mr KadaKumar the “conspiratorial” Northies that have come up with this grand strategy of bombardment of Hindi trash on gullible “Southies” according to you have already taken the lead in promoting your cinema more than your own Industry ever managed. Learn this,Mr KadaKumar people like you are a dying breed.Wheels of history have moved for the better in a forward direction. Mr Shastri was the last Prime Minister who tried to force Hindi on all of India but had to give in to Indira Gandhi faction to not back down on the promises made by Nehru for autonomy to Southern India for linguistic independence.I dont rate my country highly but when it comes to this department I am really proud of what our country has achieved and there has been no thrust by any central government even the right wings to renege from the commitment of linguistic independence to Southern States.From youtube to reddit,if anyone writes “Hindi is our national language”, instantly bickering ensues on how there is no national language in India with majority of “Northies” supporting the logical argument here.
You truly have a flourish for the English language,I thoroughly enjoyed the flow of your content,but seriously man you should grow out of this shoddy bicameral mindset because you seem to be truly capable of this.And please do us a favour,next time you feel so pensive at a fellow Tamilian writing about Hindi cinema,take mercy on poor souls like us who find his reviews more entertaining than the movies themselves.
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tejas
July 22, 2016
People who think sex comedies invariably invite a certain type of negative response from the critics, please read Rangan’s review of “Guddu ki Gun”.
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P
July 23, 2016
BR: I know you didn’t mean it as a dig 🙂 I am in way too good a a mood (courtesy Rajni) to be annoyed with you! The ample number of smileys should have indicated as much already 🙂
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Apan
July 23, 2016
Am an avid reader of your blog, and I am sure a lot many non-Tamil readers come to it(location stats could be indicative) for films in their language at least.
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