A deep dive into moments from the 2016 Telugu rom-com ‘Pelli Choopulu’, which is as much about finding a life partner as finding oneself.
Among the happier trends in movie-watching down south is the release of films with subtitles. Speaking as someone from Chennai, this is how it used to be. The majority of releases were in Tamil, English and Hindi, but the odd Telugu, Kannada or Malayalam film would find its way here. It helped if the actors were known. Local boy Kamal Haasan’s films – say, Kokila (Kannada), Maro Charitra (the Telugu original of Ek Duuje Ke Liye) – would almost always get here, and sometimes even a film without stars would break out into a blockbuster. I am thinking about K Viswanath’s musical drama Shankarabharanam (1980, Telugu) and Oru CBI Diary Kurippu (1988, Malayalam). One went and watched these un-subtitled films without really getting them a hundred per cent, sometimes with a hapless friend who spoke the language. I completely ruined my Malayali friend’s viewing of the Mammootty-starring Malayalam drama Amaram (1990). Every scene, I kept shaking his arm, asking, “So what’s he saying now? So what’s she saying now?”
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Navneeth
March 23, 2017
“One went and watched these un-subtitled films without really getting them a hundred per cent, sometimes with a hapless friend who spoke the language… Every scene, I kept shaking his arm, asking, “So what’s he saying now? So what’s she saying now?””
Haha. Did that with Kabali & Aandavan Kattalai. In Kabali’s case, the layers I imagined it had made it feel like a better film than it was (thankfully).
Glad that Southern filmmakers are finally latching on to the importance of subtitles. It was thus a pleasant surprise to watch AYM.
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Rajesh
March 23, 2017
Beautiful writing
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Aditya (Gradwolf)
March 23, 2017
I know it was 1990 but cannot imagine you being this disturbing, annoying person in the movie theatre poking and talking during the film’s run!
I watched Pelli Choopulu at the height of all the hysteria and hype that followed soon after the release. I really liked the film but couldn’t shake the feeling what the fuss was all about. Was it this hyped up because it’s that rare Telugu film that gets romance and the agency of the female lead right? And this is another problem when watching with subtitles. You look at the text so much that the visual cues sometimes escape you. The craft goes right above your head the first time. I don’t think I noticed the BGM at all. This is especially true of the current Malayalam wave because so many of them are craftsmen first and filmmakers who can bend the visual medium in myriad ways.
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vishal yogin
March 23, 2017
And this is another problem when watching with subtitles. You look at the text so much that the visual cues sometimes escape you. The craft goes right above your head the first time.
Well said….the agony & ecstasy of subtitled cinema !
And not much has changed in Bombay – still no subtitles here, except the rare show at PVR.
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lakshmi
March 23, 2017
She’s in a super-crisp kurta (a super-bright yellow)
Is it the scene they first meet?
Noticed this in these Mani Ratnam films: Mouna Raagam, Nayakan, Thalapathy, Kannathil Muthamittal, Roja – the heroine is dressed in yellow when the hero first talks to/sees her. And in Alaipayuthey, Madhavan is wearing a bright yellow shirt when Shalini first sees him.
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Aman
March 23, 2017
and sometimes even a film without stars would break out into a blockbuster. I am thinking about K Viswanath’s musical drama Shankarabharanam (1980, Telugu) and Oru CBI Diary Kurippu (1988, Malayalam). One went and watched these un-subtitled films without really getting them a hundred per cent
Did you just call Oru CBI Diary Kurippu a film without stars. Sending legions of Mamootty fans your way now.
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brangan
March 23, 2017
LOL. But I’m talking about Chennai, and we had space for only two stars 🙂
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Subhash
March 24, 2017
Heard Gautham Menon is remaking this film in Tamil (actually producing) with Tamannaah playing the female lead. Wonder who plays the hero’s friends. I find them more interesting than anyone else in the film apart from the astrologer-cum-businessman who always uses his gut.
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The Ghost Who Walks
March 24, 2017
@Lakshmi
No, not the first time they meet. He is referring to the scene where she asks him to join the food truck business.
But the Maniratnam influences I could also feel. The scene from Chitra’s flashback where the guy tries to talk to her in her class reminded me too much of Karthik-Revathi’s scenes from Mounaraagam to be just a co-incidence.
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lakshmi
March 24, 2017
The Ghost Who Walks: Thanks. I didn’t mean to say there’s an influence. It was an irrelevant comment about a sort of pattern I was reminded of. 🙂
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naveenkrwpress
March 27, 2017
BR, I believe Maro Charitra and Shankarabharanam were super hits without dubbing & sub-titles. I had read somewhere that these two were not dubbed into Tamil which was a very common then. Aachi Manorama and a few others personally jumped in and released shankarabharanam in TN. I remember watching Aiyar The Great in blue diamond which used to have continous shows
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