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Posted in: Cinema: Tamil, Interview
Interview: Suresh Krishna (‘Baba’ re-release)
Posted on November 30, 2022
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Baradwaj Rangan 
Rekhs
November 30, 2022
yes, and I am subtitling it against a deadline as usual:)rekhs
‘The roots below the earth claim no rewards for making the branches fruitful’ – Rabindranath Tagore I’d rather be a root than the flower or fruit! – rekhs
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Srinivas R
November 30, 2022
Baba was a very weak movie, only reason it’s being released again is because, they feel they can cash in on selling in the name of “Hindutva”.
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Srinivas R
November 30, 2022
A full telugu version of the movie is available on you tube.
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Honest Raj
November 30, 2022
Well, I was in two minds whether or not to ask if you’d be reviewing Baba. 🙂
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vijay
December 1, 2022
yenpa,Baba paththi yevanum indha aLavu padam vandha podhe discuss pannala, neenga 20 varusham kazhichi…:-)
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hari prasad
December 1, 2022
But then , its been a really long time since the Tamil audience watched Baba.
Rajini didn’t renew the satellite rights of Baba with Sun TV , unlike he did with Padayappa and Arunachalam recently , it’s not available in any OTT platforms , due to which people completely forgot of its existence , so to make them remember again that Rajini did this movie as his dream project , the re release is happening.
Idhuku rights renew pannitu KTV laye idha potturukalame nu kekkalam , but then movie restoration , alternate scenes , adhu idhu nu Suresh Krishna solraaru..
Enna dhan apadi alter pannirukaru nu paapome…
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hari prasad
December 1, 2022
20 varusham kazhichu release panni , adhukaga Suresh Krishna va Baddy interview edutha inga discuss panni dhan aaganum , vijay sir.
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hari prasad
December 1, 2022
Kudos to Baddy for actually resisting the urge to ask Suresh , ” ungalukku Rajini pidikuma? , Kamal pidikuma?”
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Ananth
December 1, 2022
Baba is such a frustrating movie for me. Some great ideas but the film is all over the place. Wonder if it would have turned out better had someone else scripted it.
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kaizokukeshav
December 1, 2022
Unpopular opinion – Baba is my favorite movie of all time. I watch it whenever there’s a nervous day before an interview or an exam. It’s like a pacifier that make me calm and realize that there are things beyond our understanding.
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shaviswa
December 1, 2022
Vanthutten nu sollu….. Thirumba vanthutten nu sollu.
😀😀
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hari prasad
December 1, 2022
Also , I expected Baddy to ask, “Kamal wrote Aalavandhan , he called you to direct it , Rajini wrote Baba and he called you to direct it , how lucky and gifted you feel that two of the biggest superstars of Tamil Cinema had written scripts and called you to direct?” .
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madhusudhan194
December 1, 2022
Baba is a fascinating film on paper but the execution was just all over the place. I don’t believe that it has aged well and don’t see it getting a different treatment from the audience now. It needed a much better writer. It’s not really a Hindutva film either.
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Guru
December 1, 2022
Suresh Krishna worked on two films around the same time, with Kamal on Aalavandhan and with Rajini on Baba. Both films didn’t do well. However, I feel Aalavandhan may have a better run if re-released than Baba.
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hari prasad
December 1, 2022
No , Baba was launched in February 2002 and got released in August of the same year , while Aalavandhan came during Deepavali 2001 clashing with Suriya’s Nandha , Vikram’s Kasi , Vijay’s Shahjahan , Vijayakanth’s Thavasi and Prabhudeva’s Manathai Thirudivittai.
Anbe Sivam was shown as a Kamal birthday special in Porur GK Cinemas and it got a thunderous response from the audience.
Aalavandhan too is a KTV cult classic , so it will be received well if it gets re released.
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RK
December 1, 2022
@Srinivas R: Baba cannot be termed as ‘Hinduvta’, soft or hard, by any stretch of thought. I see it as a Hindu spiritual quest, heavily influenced by Autobiography of a Yogi.
I see this insidious appropriation of Hindu myths & spirituality by Hinduvta, which is essentially political, as the most dangerous happening in our country. Lets not accept their version of reality.
And intelligent people like you should not grant them this acceptance by conflating Hindutva with Hindu religion, which is what fundamentalist of all religions want. Then, if you criticize them, you are criticising a whole religion.
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Heisenberg
December 1, 2022
I remember the Baba release fever very clearly. Rajni had semi retired after padaiyappa and decided to comeback 4 years later. The soundtrack received mixed response but Maya maya became quite popular. I was in high school and whenever anyone questioned what’s on Aug 15th, people answered Baba release.
Offscreen Rajni fans and pmk members were clashing due to Ramadas protesting rajni smoking in the stills.
On the day of release baba fever had swept across the state. Fans screaming wildly as the show started and when Rajni standing with his back to the camera in baba pose turned around and did Ptruuuaaan the fever subsided.
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Heisenberg
December 1, 2022
It was such a big disaster that people wrote off rajni with that 1 movie. He returned lot of money to the distributers to save his name. Then he had to wait another 2 years for a comeback movie, which looked like a low budget stage play with Rajni’s cameo.
Strangely Rajni still calls Baba as his most satisfying movie (apart from raghavendra). He is probably satisfied because the movie clearly depicted his state of mind – a mess caught between spirituality and politics.
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hari prasad
December 1, 2022
And the terrible look and makeup he had in Chandramukhi…
Just compare that one with that stylish look he had in Baba , the Chandramukhi Rajini would look like a cheap imitator of himself.
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hari prasad
December 1, 2022
Rajini might be a hardcore right wing leaner , the movie might had references about the flower ” Lotus(Thamarai)” and has an atheist become… a theist , but you can’t call Baba a sanghi Hindutva padam just because of these things.
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KS
December 1, 2022
I too kinda liked Baba. Admittedly it was a bit confused, but there was an earnestness to it. Some of the ideas really clicked (most of the first half, with the boons and all), though they didn’t all come together to form a coherent movie. One imagery that really stayed with me was that of the ripe tropical tree on top of a barren snowy mountain. Very liminal. The music was quite the cracker too, with Rahman at his most frivolous and enjoyable. The only parts that didn’t work for me were to do with the villains and politics, but thankfully that occupied only a small portion of the running time.
As @brangan pointed out, the movie itself is a reflection of everything Rajini is, being pulled towards politics, drawn towards spirituality, but not being able to get rid of vacuous fan pandering and bad old habits, resulting in a spunky mess.
@Srinivas R: So any Hindu theme or imagery in arts and pop culture, however inoffensive, is now tied to some sinister Hindutva conspiracy? Frankly I don’t mind this paranoia, as it would only piss off more harmless Hindus and put them on the conveyor belt towards Hindutva.
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Srinivas R
December 1, 2022
@RK – I see where you come from. I still feel Rajini’s open embrace of Modi, his political stance during the sterling firings, his stance about “spiritual politics” are clear indication of where he stands w.r.t to Hindutva. Combine that with the celebration of recent approach of RW to celebrate movies tht in their opinion celebrates Hinduism, I have no doubt about what motivated Rajini to release Baba again.
About the movie itself:
Not having anyone around to hold a mirror and tell him how terrible a movie it actually is a big problem. Rajini or anyone else is welcome to share their spiritual leanings. If he wants to spread awareness about his spiritual gurus, he has every right to. But as a movie it simply doesn’t hold up. Some scenes appear out of nowhere, dispense some pop philosophy & disappear. Ofc his pet approach of telling woman what to do comes with a flavoring of yoga & spirituality. Except the Maya Maya song there is nothing in the movie that’s worth the audience time. I watched it only once, but the terribleness is so seeped in my memory, it’s unshakable. I was very very hyped for this movie & never have I been more disappointed. I haven’t watched Linga & know that it largely received negative reviews , will stick my neck out & say that would probably be a better movie than this.
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Srinivas R
December 1, 2022
@KS – Any Hindu Theme, Symbolism, that is promoted by people close to the Hindutva bandwagon is certainly worth my suspicion.
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Anand Raghavan
December 1, 2022
Even Shakthi kodu song became somewhat popular as is B to the A rap bit . Baba Baba song got redone as Dekho Na by ARR in Swades . What would the end be in re-release as his political ambitions are now thrown out of the window.
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lurker
December 1, 2022
I don’t see any ulterior motive to the release. They are seeing a wave of mythology-based/fantasy-based movies being successful and are trying to ride the wave. I highly doubt if it’ll succeed though.
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Honest Raj
December 1, 2022
Ofc his pet approach of telling woman what to do comes with a flavoring of yoga & spirituality.
I first saw the scene on TV and I was like: “Maadu yen maadu… Neruppu kuchi yen kuchi… Nee yaaru kekka?”
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KS
December 1, 2022
@Srinivas R:
Does the movie advocate for a Hindu religious state governed by religious principles and invalidation/suppression of minorities? If not, its not a Hindutva movie (not that theres anything wrong with it, just like a communist movie), irrespective of whatever impression you may have of the creator’s supposed political stand. If you get triggered by harmless Hindu symbols/images/themes and stitch a thread connecting it to Hindutva, thats just your personal paranoia.
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lurker
December 1, 2022
@KS “invalidation/suppression of minorities” and communism are not equivalent.
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Rajesh A
December 1, 2022
I was in my college second year when Baba got released. Baba was the first Rajini film (one of two rajini films. another one is 2.0) that I watched on first day. Those days watching a Rajini movie on Day 1 is a big thing. But when I came out of theatre, I was disappointed. I didn’t even boast to my friends in college that I watched Baba.
forget the controversies, Rajini’s makeup, his voice etc were horrible in the movie. No one could watch Manisha Koirala in that movie. (Even during Mudhalvan she was barely watchable). There are no legendary scenes in Baba to recall and enjoy (for e.g. there are many scenes in Thalpathy). But, in Baba there are literally no such scene. We can perhaps say some scenes but we only make fun of those scenes.
I really don’t understand why Rajini is wasting his fan’s time. If he wants to see the acceptance of Baba, he should release in Prime or Netflix or in Youtube and see how much people are interested in watching it . Bringing fans using his popularity is sheer waste of time especially the transport time.
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Honest Raj
December 1, 2022
It’s interesting to note that while Mano had dubbed for Rajini’s (lead) character in the Telugu version, the Babaji portions (including the voice-over at the beginning) were handled by Rajini himself.
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Honest Raj
December 2, 2022
The concept (or the mere term itself?) of Hindutva was alien to most parts of South India around that time. But today, whether one agrees or not, the Hindutva forces have positioned themselves as the ‘representatives’ of the Hindus. Otherwise, the BJP would not have got a second term. As mentioned by a few others, while the film may not have anything to do with Hindutva, it does look like the makers are trying to cash in on the current political climate (the polarised reception of Kantara paints a clear picture of the current situation).
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hari prasad
December 2, 2022
Even Suresh Krishna says movies like Kantara work like gangbusters now , so why can’t we re release Baba , which was also a mythological fantasy movie made with mass masala elements…
I think he’s cashing more on the success of Kantara , the KTV nostalgia factor of Baba and necessarily not on the sanghi clout.
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Rajesh A
December 2, 2022
in Tamil nadu – Kantara didn’t run for any Hindutva ideologies etc. It ran for a good presentation of folkfore/tribal life in cinema. it was like a old wine in a new bottle. It is foolish of Rajini to release Baba now .. if you run even Aaayirathil Oruvan or Anbe Sivam in theatres today, only few shows will be having good occupancy. In that case, why Baba is getting a release?
Suresh Krishna saying that he couldn’t get the true response from audience bcos of agenda driven controversies during that time. This is a white lie. One can easily get that feedback. Even today if he asks 33+yrd old, he will the answer about Baba’s response.
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hari prasad
December 2, 2022
But then , when Aayirathil Oruvan was re released weeks before the release of Vijay’s Master , most shows ran to packed audience despite the Covid scare…
If a Selvaraghavan movie can pull this off , why can’t a Rajini movie do it atleast for the first 3 days?
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Rajesh A
December 2, 2022
@hariprasad – Aayirathil Oruvan didn’t have big re-release. not this kind of buzz where directors come and promote. It was re-released in very few theatres (that can be counted in hands) in chennai and in some cities. It was not re-released in USA etc. The producers simply didn’t take that risk.
Moreover, when AO was released in 2010, it had good critical acclaim among a section of audience. It didn’t appeal to mass audience. I remember watching it in Gurgaon itself thrice (though those last portions of armies atrocities in camp scenes, Partiban body being carried to the sea were all tiring. I remember it was trimmed within a week).
AO ran well in Andhra Pradesh (then it was only Andhra Pradhesh). It got acceptance in some part of the world and some section of the audience.
All throughout the last 12 years people have been talking about AO, Anbe Sivam. They have been asking for sequels of it etc.
But, w.r.t Baba no body asked for it or even remembered. Baba was an avoidable movie. It wasn’t telecasted in theatres is just an excuse for people having forgotten it.
Rajini is just (mis)using his popularity and fame and wasting his fans money and time.
Even Kamal won’t promote a re-release Anbe Sivam (though he has blamed the positioning of Anbe-Sivam (posters mainly focusing on Kamal and Kiran) as a rom-drama as the reason for failure of Anbe Sivam) because he knew genuine movie lovers reaction about Anbe Sivam even when it was released.
Rajini too knows about Baba’s response of genuine movie lovers. He is just trying hard to push Baba again dumb / blunt fans.
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Rajesh A
December 2, 2022
In TN, it is not that movies on Gods won’t run. Even during 1995-2000s many movies on Hindu gods have had successfull re-runs. e.g, Thiruvilaiyadal, Kandhan Karunai, Thiruvatchelvar, Saraswathi Sabatham etc. The biggest blockbuster is Amman (which was a dubbed from Telugu)
So, in case they are cashing on acceptance of Kantara, it is a wrong decision.
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hari prasad
December 2, 2022
Both Aayirathil Oruvan and Pudhupettai were re released by their respective producers all over Tamilnadu during the 1st week of 2021.
Here’s the video where Karthi promoted the re release..
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hari prasad
December 2, 2022
But then Baba isnt a Thiruvilayadal kinda straight saamy padam , Baba is a mythological fantasy movie with the chosen one narrative and the mass masala compulsories like 5 paatu , 5 fight , 1 loosu heroine , amma sentiment , standalone comedy scenes etc.
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kaizokukeshav
December 2, 2022
“Rajini is just (mis)using his popularity and fame and wasting his fans money and time.”
Rajini is kind of in his last days in cinema to even care about money, fame etc. There’s literally nothing in common between Kantara and Baba. The fact that there are some different viewpoints to their knowledge of Indian culture, and Suresh Krishna was talking about the same. His guess if people are embracing Kantara then they will embrace Baba too.
Irrespective of Baba’s theme, anything that right wing show a little interest becomes evil is a very binary point of view. It’s not like rest of the cinema is not affiliated at all, 90% of the current crop of movies are coming with some kind of social commentary from vested interests. In the midst of all these political wars Baba is far more neutral for a layman.
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Rajesh A
December 2, 2022
If we even take Kantara success as a factor – one has to agree Kantara had genuine folk elements (with cinematic liberties) — But in Baba, except the demi god Baba (like Ragavendra), nothing is a new element to Tamil Cinema – all those yagnas, mudra’s etc were all beaten to pulp in tamil movies (e.g Amman) including Rajini’s movies (oor kavalan, chandramuki, kazhugu,)
Baba didn’t offer anything new that time. It wont offer anything new this time also.
It was as a disappointment when it was released because Rajini didn’t chose the political path (in the movie) (Rajini was in peak those days. Jayalalitha and Karunanidhi were also in their peak). Now, that he is totally away from Political ambitions, there isn’t going to be any interest on Baba too.
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Rajesh A
December 2, 2022
@hariprasad – a 90 second promo byte of AO is different from Suresh Krishna running across places for interviews.
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hari prasad
December 2, 2022
I shared that Karthi video to just show and tell you that Aayirathil Oruvan had a wide re release all over Tamilnadu and it’s not just a Chennai theatres only special thing.
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hari prasad
December 2, 2022
Now that he has backed away from politics(well atleast till Jailer releases when he says a controversial political opinion and lands himself and the movie in trouble , Kaala suffered from this hugely because of his hypocrisy) , Suresh Krishna said that they had altered the climax in this remastered re release.
Also , I’m intrigued to know how people will react and respond to the Sakthi Kodu song now.
Are the makers gonna cut off the ” mudivu edutha pinnal naan thadumaara maaten , munn veitha kaalai naan pinn veika maten” stanza or will it remain?
I know the “Aayiram athisayam amainthathu Baba jadhagam” song will receive a thunderous response from the crowd , now it has become a viral meme , but you know I’m more curious to know how would they react to the ” uppitta tamizh mann” line if it is included….
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asvmf002
December 2, 2022
Its funny to note that most folks who have posted the comments so far are against the movie / disliked it. If you don’t like it, then why bother checking a video about it in the first place ?
Merely curious. (Probably the rationale explanation being that as per behavioral sciences, things that evoke strong emotions also generate strong reactions?)
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Rahini David
December 2, 2022
asvmf002, do you only read reviews and articles or reviews or interviews when you are positively motivated?
“things that evoke strong emotions also generate strong reactions”?
Mmm… obviously.
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H. Prasanna
December 2, 2022
Great to see a comment from Rekhs the ubiquitous subtitler of movies. Love your work, especially when you’re having fun with breaking cultural context.
On Baba:
I love, love, love the movie. I think it would be the movie I would recommend if anyone who didn’t know Rajni wanted to watch a movie. It feel it is so autobiographical it shows everything “he” wants to be, instead of what his audience want him to be (see Sivaji, Petta, etc.). He wants to be the chosen one, the spiritualist hero who had a slew of “bad habits” in the path. He wants to “do good for the people without entering politics”. Most of all, he is bashing everyone up, reciting punchlines, dancing, and issuing unsolicited advise while treading this path. It is the ultimate kitchen sink that Rajni has thrown at the audience which shows exactly what he thinks about cinema. Almost everyone has given their second best, half hearted work, right from the camera to the music. And it kind peels back the layer on what Rajni cinema is, without all the gloss of expensive, well-made sets, stunt and dance choreography, and overwhelming music. Rajni the star has always been deeply confused by his own stardom; he has always been a director’s actor who has been turned into an audience’s star. It is especially interesting that he hasn’t truly gotten over this confusion after so many years making “Rajni cinema”. Baba, for me, crystallizes this confusion that is Rajni.
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kaizokukeshav
December 3, 2022
I have a feeling they will change the climax to Baba heading to sainthood and ultimately he will announce his retirement from movies in a few months from now. Touch wood !
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hari prasad
December 3, 2022
Ipadi dhan Baba original release apo sonnaga , but then Baba flopped like crazy and Rajini did Chandramukhi , Sivaji , Enthiran to save his legacy from getting tarnished.
But I think personally that Petta should have been his swan song , it was like him saying , ” look guys , you had enjoyed me and my movies for a really long time , but time’s catching up , I’m old , I should leave to let the new generation take over , so watch me do my thing for one final time and this is my thank you gift for making me a Superstar”.
Petta was like a grand farewell party organised for a much loved professor by students who really admire him , he even brought back his cigarette style and his 70s antihero mannerisms to confirm it , damn it.
Darbar and Annaatthe were thevai illadha aanis and it further ruined his image.
If Jailer too fumbles , then Rajini would still continue his hunt to sign off on a high with a huge blockbuster under his name…
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Ravi K
December 3, 2022
The Rajini films will continue until morale improves
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KayKay
December 4, 2022
Re-releasing Baba is like Stallone re-releasing “D-TOX” to commemorate it’s 20 years.
Note for non-Stallone fans: D-Tox is a serial killer movie he did in 2002 that got a limited release in cinemas before being unceremoniously shunted to DVD, where it was all but forgotten except die hard Stallone devotees like yours truly.
Why? Because…it sucked balls.
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hari prasad
December 4, 2022
இதன் மூலம் தாங்கள் கூற வரும் கருத்து?
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KayKay
December 4, 2022
Ok, this is actually happening? Fishing out a piece of filmic flotsam from the cinematic primal ooze, washing the muck off it, holding it up to the light and saying…Hmmm actually it wasn’t that bad????
Look, power to those who actually liked this piece of crap. But 20 years does nothing to erase the fact that Baba was an epic misfire, a Rajini Masala Flick haphazardly stitched together with some hilariously hokey Spirituality made worse by bum numbingly tedious pacing, atrociously bad writing and a mediocre ARR score (but on that note, Rahman’s best scores have never been for a Rajini flick, the unstoppable force of the former’s free flow experimentation frequently crashing against the immovable wall of the latter’s strictly templatized flicks). Rajini looked every inch of his then 52 years, made worse by having a 50 year old Sujatha play his mother!
I remember watching this during it’s 1st week of release, and an hour in, experiencing that sinking feeling I was watching a bona fide stinker that even his fans wouldn’t accept. In fact the only time the cinema I was watching it in got animated with a few whistles was during that idiotic scene (and the movie is awash with them) where Ramya makes an unfortunate Neelambari cameo and mistakes Baba for Padayappa, a stark reminder that for all of THAT movie’s problems, it was a Rajini flick that gave his fans everything they wanted, as opposed to what Rajini himself THOUGHT they wanted with this tonal misfire.
And after having sat through 3 hours of this crap, the movie had the gall to end on a cliffhanger with those chilling words flashing on screen…THODARUM.
Equally looking forward to the 20 year retrospectives that will no doubt be accorded to Vijay’s Sura, Ajith’s Aalwar, Vikram’s Kanthaswamy and Surya’s Singam Trilogy. If the point is to celebrate mediocrity, then go all the way, I say!
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praneshp
December 5, 2022
@KayKay At least at the time it released, and wasn’t going to be a trilogy, Singham was good enough to not belong in your list. I remember really enjoying it and not feeling yucky about really enjoying it.
But I feel sad that you had to watch Baba FDFS lol. Even for a rajni fan like me it took a few sittings to finish.
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hari prasad
December 5, 2022
@KayKay , Vijay’s Suraa had a re release , but guess where it got re released… F-ing Kerala!
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hari prasad
December 5, 2022
This was organised by Kollam Nanbans , a notorious Vijay fans club in Kerala and proof that Vijay has a much crazier fanbase in Kerala than here…
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hari prasad
December 5, 2022
Ya , Singam 1 was basically Saamy on high decibels and a Suriya who channels his inner Vijayakanth instead of a cool and calm Vikram.
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therag
December 5, 2022
@KayKay, Kanthasamy re-release aa? Vikram oda pudhu padathukke screen kedaikalayaan…..
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KayKay
December 5, 2022
“Ya , Singam 1 was basically Saamy on high decibels and a Suriya who channels his inner Vijayakanth instead of a cool and calm Vikram.”
Ya, that’s my problem with Hari’s movies on principle. They’re so loud at some point they perforate my ear drums while the constant zoom ins and sped up shots assault my eyes. A dreadful film maker.
And in my opinion, nothing good has ever come out of an actor channeling his “inner Vijaykanth”. Vijaykanth channeling his inner Vijaykanth has rarely produced good results.
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KayKay
December 5, 2022
Yes, Vijay does have a huge fan base in Kerala, proof that moronic fandom recognizes no state boundaries.
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hari prasad
December 5, 2022
Vijayakanth’s 90s cop movies are still fun to watch , till Vallarasu he was okay , it was in Narasimha where he became that buffoonish meme material…
From this…
To this…
What a downgrade!
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Srinivas R
December 5, 2022
KayKay going all guns blazing has made this comment section very entertaining.
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abishekspeare
December 5, 2022
Was a toddler when the movie released and i haven’t dared to watch it after i grew up, if 2 year old me can find core issues with the movie why bother the 23 year old me.
But this is one of ARR’s underrated soundtracks i feel. He was probably too devastated that ‘Baaba kichchu’ went unnoticed that he re-used the same tune in Swades’ Dekho naa – and it went unnoticed there too XD
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hari prasad
December 5, 2022
Baddy,
Devdas , Aan , Ram aur Shyam and Shakti are gonna get re released in PVR at VR Mall as a Dilip Kumar birthday special…
Gonna catch any one of them?
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hari prasad
December 5, 2022
This Sunday to be precise…
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SorenKierky
December 6, 2022
Like.. why? Politics aside, it’s just a shit film. And incredibly dated. Nothing holds up. I’m surprised to know that there are fans for this film, forget the obvious parallels between Rajni’s political/spiritual duality and the conflicts, whatever is built around this has to hold up – and it doesn’t AT ALL.
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lurker
December 6, 2022
@abhishekspear -I also like the soundtrack. ARR’s songs were good but went unnoticed in both Baba and Kochadaiyaan, imo.
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Madan
December 6, 2022
Having never watched Baba and having no intention to catch the re-release, I listened to the first half of the interview just to see what was Krishna’s rationale for the re-release was. As others have said, this just sounds like internal echo chamber talk where he (and Rajni) have convinced themselves that it was just the controversy around the trailer that hurt it. When he would get a very good idea just from its performance on TV whether that is the case or that the public simply rejected the film. Baba is not a cult classic on satellite and doesn’t even get broadcast that often on TV. That said, there is also a weird stench of nostalgia in the air so maybe Krishna sees something that we don’t and it could well turn out to be a ‘limited’ smash after all.
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Heisenberg
December 6, 2022
I don’t remember 4am shows happening for Baba as Karthik suburaj has said. If he meant FDFS in Madurai cinepriya theater, I was probably there in same show with him 😀
It’s remarkable how relatively sensible directors of today’s age go dumb when they become fanboy. Here he praises Baba and there was another place where he praised Linga. If an acclaimed director feels this way about shitty movies of their idol, imagine how layman hardcore fanboys feel about them. It is no wonder majority of movies made in India are mediocre (especially with big stars).
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Satya
December 6, 2022
Baba is a very strange film. There are aspects I like, liked, hate and hated (yes, we grew up together over the years). I don’t think anyone can do justice to the film’s flaw than this lyric of Maya Maya: “Thamarai ilaitha neer pol nee otti ottaamal iru…”. Seen that way, Baba as a script was truly commitment-phobic!
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hari prasad
December 10, 2022
Anyone watching or watched it?
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Satya
December 13, 2022
I have watched the remastered version yesterday; it has a very limited release in my city with subs. Many political references were altered, which I didn’t care about. But the new anticlimax was beautiful and very meaningful. That is what I would really expect God to do in real life, to any of us. Including our beloved superstar.
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Jay S
December 14, 2022
I had no interest in this interview as I had no interest in Baba but curiosity got the better of me. Hats off to BR for such a genuinely curious respectful interview even when the movie aka subject matter may not have been of his taste. BR has even taken care to watch the movie (not sure now or then).
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