Posted on July 9, 2018
What is a “classic”? The most perfect, flawless film ever made? Um… I’d rather define it as something I keep returning to, flaws and all. Something that makes me think, regard it in a new light each time.
Flashback is a fortnightly feature on a film I consider a… classic.
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Rajesh
July 10, 2018
Sir please do a Visu Sir movie esp Samsaaram adhu minsaaram
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MANK
July 10, 2018
Fantaaastic! this episode should be made compulsory watching for all those who say that films need not concern itself with form, and should just tell a good story and give a social message. the framing, the composition, these things hit you on a sub conscious level and enhance your viewing experience. its hard to believe that tamil cinema had this quality of filmmaking 40 years ago. this quality disappeared somewhere in the mid 80’s, with just mani Rathnam remaining the only person doing formal experimentation in mainstream cinema
Just to add to what you already said. Mullum malarum had a certain rawness in both Rajni’s performance and in Mahendran’s filmmaking, since it was their first collaboration. but their next, Jhonny is their best. both cinematically speaking – its so economical in story telling , everything is cinematic – and in Rajni’s (and sridevi’s) performance.
Of course in between Mahendran would make Uthiripookkal, which is undoubtedly one of the greatest films ever made. but these 2 films will forever remain a reminder as to what a great performer Rajni was and what a loss it was for him and cinema when he became a superstar.
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shaviswa
July 10, 2018
Such a wonderful analysis. I noticed aspects of film making that never struck me although I have watched this film a few times, even most recently. Thanks for this analysis BR.
This IS the best Rajini movie and always makes me feel that we lost out a wonderful actor to commercial pulls. Wish he had balanced his commercial films with a few such films every now and then.
Also also wish MAhendran had made a few more such films. What a wonderful writer-director. And he made such wonderful use of actors like Rajinikanth, Shobha, Fatafat, Sridevi (in Jhonny). And Raja probably reserved his best music for Mahendran.
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MANK
July 10, 2018
But this film is also a good reference as to why Rajni became such a huge superstar. just watching him in raman anndalum song, that beastly energy, that unaldurated masculine sexuality, with all that sweat and grime, with no make up and natural cinematography doing justice to his dark skin tone, he was like no other actor who came before him
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Srinivas R
July 10, 2018
MANK,Shaviswa – Thanks for the shout out for Johnny, Sridevi’s best performance IMO.
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Srinivas R
July 10, 2018
” this quality disappeared somewhere in the mid 80’s, with just mani Rathnam remaining the only person doing formal experimentation in mainstream cinema”
I am wondering what happened to all those film institute guys like Abavanan ( oomaivizhigal, inaindha jaigal), RK Selvamani ( Pulanvisaranai, Captain Prabhakaran) et all. Even though I know next to nothing about craft, their movies stood out for a consistent mood through out. I remember being very impressed by Inaindha kaigal which had some terrific action scenes.
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Sifter
July 10, 2018
Love this! Haven’t watched this movie in ages and I know what i’ll be doing today evening 🙂
Same with Uthiripookal & Nandu.
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Sifter
July 10, 2018
–just watching him in raman anndalum song, that beastly energy, that unaldurated masculine sexuality, with all that sweat and grime,–
My!
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Anu Warrier
July 10, 2018
Mullum Malarum was incidentally my introduction to Rajnikant. I mean, I knew who he was, certainly, and had seen posters of his films, etc. But this was the first film of his that I would see. My eldest brother was a huge fan of Shobha, and it was he who took me to watch it because he needed some company.
It certainly paved the way for me to see him as an actor first. So when I began watching other movies of his, I was more tolerant of his ‘superstar’ mannerisms and even began to enjoy the sheer panache with which he did them.
Seconding the love for Johnny. though I must confess I watched it purely for Sridevi.
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(Original) venkatesh
July 12, 2018
I still use the “kettae payyan saar avan” ., dialogue.
I wonder if you would consider this the best Rajini performance.
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Honest Raj
July 15, 2018
This one is easily the best in the segment so far. MM is one of probably three films in Tamil where the cinematographer’s name is credited after IR’s in the opening credits. Wish BM had collaborated with Mahendran on a few more films.
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MANK
July 17, 2018
Srinivas, Inaindha kaigal was directed by N.K.Viswanathan whose last film was jaganmohini with Namitha, go figure 🙂 . But agree that IK was technically a good film, especially the sound design by deepan chatterjee and yes great action sequences with 2 Vijayakanth wannabes Arun pandian and Ramki in the cast
The thing with Selvamani is the same with guys like Shankar, they are very good at shooting song and action sequences, but the individual scenes are shot very flat. they hardly have the depth and detailing that Brangan explained above
RKS was actually a very good craftsman to begin with. Pulan visaranai was a solid product , considering it was RKS’s debut movie, i remember there is an initial portion in the film where Vijayakanth is addressing the cops and it is inter cut with politician Radha Ravi addressing his band of followers as to how to deal with the people. the concept at the screenplay level is elevated by the staging and cutting. but he lost that ability after a point,rather early in his career itself, say in a film like chembarathi, the songs are so superbly picturised , but the rest of the film looks like a stage play
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Honest Raj
July 22, 2018
MANK: “Depth” and “detailing” hardly matters when you have a power-packed performance like this:
Totally agree with you on Selvamani. Things could’ve been different had he joined Mani Ratnam’s camp right after coming out of the film school.
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Ruminating Aesthete
July 23, 2018
The Mahendran – Balu Mahendra pair were more of a director/co-director duo. evidence lies in the characteristic feel of the frames in all the movies BM shot. There is this beautiful use of depth, soft focus, lens choice, natural light or lack of it, even the way the characters are position relative to each other and the camera – they almost seem to follow us like a leitmotif hopping from film to film. I am not sure who does the framing in Indian cinema – but as for as I know blocking/ framing is the director’s job.
Mahendran was a path breaker in Tamil cinema – his screenplays feel rich with visual detail, manage without lengthy dialogues and excessive theatricality. Most importantly, the elements of film making seem to flow in an: uninterrupted, non-turbulent form – from the duo. The scene from MM that affected me most is the first one, in which, the Kali character’s motivations and literally a rationale for his anger are established through a poignant incident in his childhood. There are no words spoken – it is a visual essay – the pain, the affection, and the anger are just laid bare. BR will you be doing a FC flashback on Rudraiya’s Aval Appadithaan?
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Soundararajan
August 6, 2018
Sir,
Can you please do one on Thillu Mullu
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GR
August 19, 2018
Just want to add one thing, Mullum Malarum could also imply ‘Even a thorn could blossom’. One of the true classics..
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