Another interview, with Maathevan of Behindwoods.
Copyright ©2017 BehindWoods.
Interview: Baradwaj Rangan (BehindWoods)
Posted on October 11, 2017
Subscribe:
RSS feed
32 Responses “Interview: Baradwaj Rangan (BehindWoods)” →
Leave a comment
Blog Stats
- 24,809,615 hits
Join 3,142 other subscribers
Other blogs
Recent Comments
 | Rocky on Election talk… for those… |
 | Iswarya V on Readers Write In #689: Transla… |
 | Pradeep CK on Election talk… for those… |
| Rocky on Election talk… for those… |
 | madhusudhan194 on Interview: Hari (‘Rathna… |
 | hari prasad on Interview: Hari (‘Rathna… |
 | vijay on Election talk… for those… |
| vijay on Election talk… for those… |
 | KK on Election talk… for those… |
 | Rahul on Election talk… for those… |
| Pradeep CK on Election talk… for those… |
| Rahul on Election talk… for those… |
| Rahul on Election talk… for those… |
 | Dhoomketu on Election talk… for those… |
 | soorya N on Interview: Fahadh Faasil (… |
Archives
Categories
Recent Posts
- Interview: Hari (‘Rathnam’)
- Interview: Fahadh Faasil (‘Aavesham’)
- Interview: A deep dive into GAAMI, with director Vidyadhar Kagita, and stars Vishwak Sen, Chandini Chowdary
- Readers Write In #689: Translations, Tamil Literature and Posterity
- Interview: Jithu Madhavan (‘Aavesham’)
- Readers Write In #688: Imtiaz Ali’s AMAR SINGH CHAMKILA Is A Biopic-Cum-Eulogy
- Interview: Manoj Bajpayee
- Jithu Madhavan’s ‘Aavesham’ is a fantastically written combination of comedy and action and drama
- Vineeth Sreenivasan’s ‘Varshangalkku Shesham’ is a middling, unfocused bromance that also wants to be a meta-commentary on the film industry
- Election talk… for those interested!
- Sajin Shrijith’s review of Jithu Madhavn’s ‘Aavesham’: Fahadh Faasil at his most electrifying and animated in a laugh fest
- Imtiaz Ali’s ‘Amar Singh Chamkila’ is a beautifully made biopic that showcases a man as well as morality
- Sajin Shrijith’s review of ‘Varshangalkku Shesham’: Vineeth Sreenivasan delivers his biggest, most wholesome film yet
- Amit Sharma’s ‘Maidaan’ is a sports melodrama/biopic that needed more consistent and engaging writing, but it has its moments
- Readers Write In #687: Trees that are trees, and trees that are not
- Readers Write In #686: Anand Ekarshi’s ‘AATTAM’- ‘An introspection’
- Interview: Elan (‘Star’)
- Interview: Priya Mani (‘Maidaan’)
- Interview: Sandeep Reddy Vanga (‘Spirit’, etc.)
- Book Excerpt: Bollypolitics
- Readers Write In #685: Aadujeevitham
- Readers Write In #684: The Hall of Thousand Pillars
- Interview: Aayush Sharma (‘Ruslaan’)
- Readers Write In #683: Tabassum madam ki jai ho!
- Kairam Vaashi reviews Parasuram Petla’s ‘Family Star’:
- Readers Write In #682: Retracing the past one year at a time
- Interview: Vineeth Sreenivasan (‘Varshangalkku Sesham’)
- Kairam Vaashi reviews Simple Suni’s ‘Avatara Purusha 2’:
- Interview: Choreographer Bhushan
- Interview: Mrunal Thakur (‘Family Star’)
- Sajid Ali’s ‘Woh Bhi Din The’, on ZEE5, is a sweet look at school days, filled with lovely, delicate moments
- Interview: Siddhu Jonnalagadda (‘Tillu Square’)
- Blessy’s ‘Aadujeevitham’ has its moments and gets an A for effort, but given the source, this should have been a far more moving film
- Rajesh Krishnan’s ‘Crew’ is an undemanding watch, lit up by the pleasure of watching stars having fun
- Interview: Vijay Deverakonda (‘Family Star’)
- Kairam Vaashi reviews Santhosh Ananddram’s ‘Yuva’: A ‘template debut-hero film’ that feels dated from the get-go
- Sajin Shrijith’s review of Blessy’s ‘Aadujeevitham’: A hard-hitting survival drama blessed by a towering performance from Prithviraj
- Interview: Arun Bose (‘Marivillin Gopurangal’)
- Readers Write In #681: Smart Gadgets, Dumb Humans
- Readers Write In #680: அற்புதமான நாள்
- Interview: Sara Ali Khan (‘Ae Watan Mere Watan’, ‘Murder Mubarak’)
- Interview: Anand Ekarshi (‘Aattam’, now on Prime Video)
- Kairam Vaashi reviews Sree Harsha Konuganti’s ‘Om Bheem Bush’: A silly-funny brainless buddy comedy which reveals its trump card not before testing our patience
- The TM Krishna affair… aka The controversy over Sangeetha Kalanidhi
- Interview: Girish Kasaravalli (the remastered ‘Ghatashraddha’, and other things)
- Interview: Imtiaz Ali (‘Amar Singh Chamkila’)
- Interview: Sidharth Bharathan
- Kairam Vaashi reviews Raj Guru’s ‘Kerebete’: An issue-based film with an interesting backdrop that doesn’t offer much on the subject but rather relies heavily on its twist
- Readers Write In #679: A Feast of a Song
- Interview: Shoojit Sircar
Baradwaj Rangan 
niviblog
October 11, 2017
So glad you mentioned your blog in the interview 🙂 As a silent lurker here I have learnt so much about Cinema.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Vivek narain
October 11, 2017
Star rating a movie is indeed an imperfect science, and stars rating an a.c or a fridge is a rotten sign.
LikeLike
Kay
October 11, 2017
Bharathraj Rangan?
It was very obvious that you hold KB in high regard from the way you spoke about him. Looked like a fanboy moment. 🙂 Keep these interviews coming.
LikeLike
Jetlagged
October 11, 2017
Great to see you in the interview.
I cannot recall the discussion on KB not being a visual story teller. But you were vehemently giving instances of KB being there on top.
Interestingly here as well you mention Mani Ratnam and Mysskin being more into “cinema” medium while you also mention KB was right there at the top for his conent.
KB seems more like a pen to paper and paper to screen person. While Mani and Mysskin are not.
High time we get something on KB if not a book.
LikeLike
Dracarys
October 12, 2017
Cool! You look more relaxed and comfortable on other side of the table!!!
How does it feel to answer the ‘intriguing’ questions?!😎
LikeLike
sanjana
October 12, 2017
Cushions acting as props. Interview is quite long but interesting.
LikeLike
sanjana
October 12, 2017
If some of us can ask questions, interview style.
What are the 3 films which you did not like at all?
If cinema is a book, director is the writer. Film critic’s job is more complicated than reviewing a mere book. Do you agree?
Dont you feel that some film makers have more style statements which makes their films more dressed up that can impede the flow for the common viewer?
The stars make the movie more watchable for most of the audience. Casting a big star assures good initial. Just like some critics. People are eager to read BR, Saibal Chatterjee, Raja Sen than some budding ones. So the star system exists even among critics. Do you agree?
You need not answer. I just posted this for the heck of it and I would like to know what others want to ask you.
LikeLiked by 1 person
mrinalnarayan
October 12, 2017
Lovely interview. Those thoughts on Maniratnam, KB.. Wow!! Completely enjoyed it. This interview covered most of the things that I had been wanting to ask as well. Ha Ha!
Loved your take on ratings. I recently read an article where Martin Scorsese talks about ratings, Aggregated ratings (Rotten Tomatoes) in this case and also about how a recent movie has been viewed as a bullshit by a set of audience and a masterpiece by another set. Had been wanting to share in one of your columns. This might be the right place. Think the thoughts are sort of similar.
Here is the link -> http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/martin-scorsese-rotten-tomatoes-box-office-obsession-why-mother-was-misjudged-guest-column-1047286
LikeLike
mrinalnarayan
October 12, 2017
btw, I am giving this interview a 4/5 star rating 😛 😛
LikeLiked by 1 person
bart
October 12, 2017
Good interview again. Going by the web-channel trends: Abhishek followed by Maathevan, next would be “Cinema pesalam” or Panda, I suppose 🙂
Though KB is whom you highly regard, your top-of-the-mind 3 movies that influenced you doesn’t feature any of his. BTW, your tamil usage (doesn’t reflect your thinking :p ) has improved based on the earlier interview. Liked the way you explained the role of director through “Taxi Driver”.
Pending queries: Why not your own channel? Any books – bun(s) in the oven?
LikeLiked by 1 person
brangan
October 12, 2017
Bart: My Tamil usage has improved? But this was shot before the FullyFilmy interview. 😂
LikeLiked by 4 people
Vidya
October 12, 2017
I liked this one more than the other one with fully filmy..the interviewer was more relaxed and less fanboyish..so it seemed you were too..I didn’t realise that you would have seen nayakan in a theatre 🙂 and that somehow coloured your experience of the movie differently. Do you really think it matters where we see the movie ? The question is more relevant now than ever because most of us are watching many movies on a phone now.
LikeLiked by 1 person
bart
October 12, 2017
yedhaiyavadhu konjam koluthi podalamnu nenacha, adhuvum bussa??!!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Aadhy
October 12, 2017
I found this interview much better than fully filmy for some reasons that I’ve tried to put in some points.
1) Maathevan seems to have put in a bit more research than Abishek Raja, with topics touching your book, KB’s compliment etc.
2) I liked how Maathevan slipped his compliments slyly (“You’re a highly respected critic, but do you….”) without launching into an in-your-face corny encomium like Abishek did.
3) The questions in this interview were more specific (and more interesting) which seemed to help you explain your thought process more easily, in place of questions like “How should one watch a movie? “. Like, really?
4) Maybe because of the above reasons or some others, you also came across as much more relaxed and buoyant in this one.
LikeLiked by 4 people
Vidya
October 12, 2017
I like the fact that we are critiquing a critic’ s interview 😉 how does that feel?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Rahini David
October 12, 2017
BR: Does it knock you sideways when people say “I didn’t realise that you would have seen nayakan in a theatre”?
I get a shock each time. At least it is a 80s movie. Some people ask this even about a 90s movie. 🙂
LikeLiked by 3 people
"Original" venkatesh
October 12, 2017
BR : The Interview gadfly 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
rothrocks
October 12, 2017
@ Rahini Maybe people don’t realise/have forgotten that cinema was the main mode of entertainment before cable TV. My father say both Idiyumvarai Kathirunthen and Pannakaaran twice, one for the BGM and the other for the Ding Dong song.
LikeLiked by 1 person
GODZ
October 12, 2017
@BR….What about an interview with Readers of the blog. Please Let you readers ask some interesting questions and you answer in a separate thread? 🙂 We have a lot and you will get more interesting questions than these interviewers.
LikeLiked by 4 people
"Original" venkatesh
October 12, 2017
Its old age dude.
LikeLiked by 1 person
praneshp
October 13, 2017
@brangan: Since it’s interview season, did you ever write anything about Rhythm? It was slightly before 2003, but did you happen to write any Roja-type notes?
LikeLiked by 1 person
sanjana
October 13, 2017
From writing to video interviews. From that to acting is not far off. Would like to see you do a film or two.
LikeLiked by 2 people
sravishanker1401gmailcom
October 13, 2017
rothrocks : So I’m old enough to be your father !!!!!!
LikeLike
Sifter
October 13, 2017
BR- This interview was delightful. Waiting for you to write more on KB 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Raj
October 13, 2017
Completely unrelated but thought I could share a good resource about some of the most influential movies in American Cinema. Hope would help in selecting some movies for future viewing
http://www.filmsite.org/mostinfluentialfilms2.html
LikeLike
Raj
October 13, 2017
I always get confused when a critic or a so called critic says Screenplay not good, writing not good- can some one explain with example what is a good-bad screenplay/good-bad writing..
LikeLike
Vivek narain
October 13, 2017
@raj, for any person striving to be true to himself the greatest threat is self-doubt, seeing and accepting other people’s reality. And the best example is Don Quixote who tilted the windmills. Did DQ have any victories? Indeed he did,the best kind any man can hope to have~victories over himself.
LikeLike
Vivek narain
October 14, 2017
It is a fact that there are men who decide not to be satisfied with reality. Such men aim at altering the course of things; they refuse to repeat the gestures that custom,tradition or biological instincts force them to make. These men we call critics. The critic’s will is not that of his ancestors nor of his society, but his own. This will to be oneself, to be tawdry, he calls criticism.
LikeLike
rothrocks
October 14, 2017
Agree with those who said this was a better interview. Really enjoyed the part about the critic starting to second guess himself if he doesn’t like what the audience does. This is not obvious to the readers of course.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Madan
October 14, 2017
” So I’m old enough to be your father !!!!!!” –
Maybe. Depends how old you are. When my dad saw Pannakaaran in theater, I was five. I didn’t see that one in theater (presumably) but did see other ones, but have no memory of it. The first film I distinctly remember watching is Singaravelan.
LikeLiked by 1 person
chandra prakash
October 15, 2017
See ..first of all this was a nice interview
see the thing is … ( I like your cool usage if these during the interview….as in MMKR idellam appdiye varradu ille..)
see ……at the end of the day……….we got to watch two back to back interviews of Baddy the critically acclaimed critic by two other critics
LikeLiked by 1 person
Babbuly
October 21, 2017
BR the interview was good. But your praising his movies like kadal and Katru veliyidai seems like maybe you are frozen in time just like Mani Rathnam. Movies like naayagan and moondram pirai was good at one point. If made to see the whole movie again now, one can appreciate the technical aspects of the movie, it is very difficult to relate to the style of actign and the current sensibilities.
Problem with directors like Mani Rathnam or KB is they hit a wall and not able to think or create anything new. Their movies will not be able to stand the test of time. Compare them to directors like Spielberg or Scorsese who made movies which can still be watched by a younger audience and appreciate it. And they still continue to make movies which are still appreciate by all audiences.
KB lost his touch ages back because he was still making movies in 70s or 80s style. If you ask a young person in 20s to sit and watch KB or MR movies now they will not be able to relate to it at all. MR’s movies are still made in the style or mouna raagam. He is not able to reinvent himself.
LikeLike