Spoilers ahead…
In the old days, these drastic shifts in mood and tone would be called bad screenwriting. Today, because of the way we consume unrelated content at a stretch on our phones, that complaint appears to have become invalid.
If you look at the cast list in the Wikipedia page for Vamshi Paidipally’s Varisu, you will find Rashmika Mandanna’s name but next to thar, you won’t find the name of her character. Of course, this could be just a matter of someone not yet finding the time to do the update – but it becomes a sort of metaphor for the heroine. It doesn’t matter what her name is. She is there for a few songs, and fewer lines. It is true that one goes to a Vijay movie ONLY for Vijay. But couldn’t they have written a few actual scenes that show why Vijay (that’s Vijay’s name in the film, too) falls for this woman? Oh, there is a reason, but it is so silly that you wonder why writers were needed for it. To be frank, the whole film is so predictable that you wonder why writers were needed for it. All they needed was scenes from old “family entertainers”, plus clips of Vijay’s “mass moments”.
You can read the rest of the review here:
https://www.galatta.com/tamil/movie/review/varisu/
And you can watch the video review here:
Copyright ©2023 GALATTA.
Baradwaj Rangan 
Caesium
January 5, 2023
Did anyone else get a “Alavaikuntapuram” feel from this trailer?
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Satya
January 5, 2023
Not just AVPL, but many old Telugu family drama films, some of which were unanimous disasters. The production values are striking, though.
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Raghu Narayanan
January 5, 2023
I got a strong Srimanthudu vibe for sure…let’s see…
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hari prasad
January 5, 2023
Looks like everyone is excited about the Lokesh movie than this one …..
Saw even the hardcore anils (for people who live under the rock , that’s how vijay fans are called in the internet) not getting hyped for this , they too want this to perform badly so that Vijay would choose better , entertaining movies like he did in 2012 with Nanban and Thuppakki.
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vijay
January 5, 2023
The Udhayanidhi-Vijay cold war would be more interesting to follow in the coming weeks than this..
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Honest Raj
January 5, 2023
Even the fans have long given up on this one and started to pin their hopes on T67 (and this was before the official announcement).
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hari prasad
January 5, 2023
Idhan dead on arrival pola…
Baddy would do a postmortem instead of a review of Varisu , it seems..
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Rahini David
January 5, 2023
So what is the etymology for “Anil” and is there an Ajith counterpart for the name
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Rajesh A
January 5, 2023
Trailer’s content wasn’t impressive. I think the movie team would wish that the movie strikes a chord with the audience on the first few shows. Given the duration of the movie, wondering whether it would test the patience of the audience as I don’t know if people have the patience to watch a family masala movie for 170minutes.
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Eswar
January 5, 2023
‘அப்படி இல்லை மச்சி’ என்றார் முதல் இளைஞர், ‘இந்தமாதிரி உலகம்முழுக்கத் தளபதி ஃபேன்ஸ் எட்டு லட்சம் பேரு அவங்களோட ஃப்ரெண்ட்ஸ் ஒருத்தர்கிட்ட சொன்னாப் போதும்… கண்டிப்பாச் சொல்லிக்கிட்டிருப்பாங்க, எனக்கு நம்பிக்கை இருக்கு.’
http://nchokkan.com/being-loyal-fans/
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hari prasad
January 5, 2023
Y’all know JJ won the 2011 Tamilnadu elections.
In a stage speech , SA Chandrasekar said it was becasue of Vijay and his fans that helped her win the seat and added that Vijay was the squirrel to JJ’s Rama.
Ajith fans are called aamais because of the notorious slow motion walking scenes which is present in every Ajith movie since the Billa reboot.
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hari prasad
January 5, 2023
Skip to 5:36 to know the detailed story…
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hari prasad
January 5, 2023
But then we had Thavamai Thavamirundhu which ran close to 3hrs and 24 minutes and it did pretty well…
The content , the characters , the drama and the emotions should be strong in Varisu to demand that length or else this would become Vijay’s Annaatthe.
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MANK
January 5, 2023
Looks like Vijay’s foolish attempt at capturing the Telugu market. The seems to be made up of leftovers from Attarinki daredi, Srimanthudu, Brahmotsavam etc. Vamshi Padipally is the dude who made the atrocious Maharshi with Mahesh Babu.
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kaizokukeshav
January 5, 2023
@MANK: Now that Mahesh Babu is looking at other markets, may be Vijay (who heavily relied on remakes) finds an opportunity to expand his market too.
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Sri Prabhuram
January 5, 2023
I feel like quoting the tagline of Alien vs. Predator for this clash: “Whoever wins… we lose.”
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KS
January 6, 2023
The trailer doesn’t inspire confidence, but the few shots of Vijay’s dance were electric. The man can move!
Also, why is it that our movies always show rich people living in houses that look like glossy Swarovski showrooms? Coming to think of it, I don’t recall a single movie that gets the wealthy right. Its always a tacky tasteless caricature- just add a Rolls or Jaguar, and shiny shimmery clothes, make them eat pizza/burger with spoons, voila.
As for the Anil/Aamai, it kinda suits them. Vijay is thuru-thuru and energetic like an anil, while Ajith is bulky and sluggish like an aamai.
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tamil thanos
January 6, 2023
@MANK, exactly and that too is poorly thought out and planned. Capture the Telugu market by releasing it during Sankranti – yes, but releasing it along with movies from two of their biggest stars – what?
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Honest Raj
January 6, 2023
Not sure he has any intention to ‘capture’ the Telugu market with the film – seems he just wants to test the waters.
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Satya
January 7, 2023
I would’ve been way more happy if Varisu was a rip-off of Sundar C’s Arunachalam. Just saying…!
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hari prasad
January 7, 2023
But judging from the trailer , it looks more like a posh , Telugu dramaesque version of Suryavamsam , with Sarath Kumar mercifully playing only the role of the dad.
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Aman Basha
January 7, 2023
MANK sir is as always dead on. I doubt Vijay would have done this movie if Master hadn’t done so well in Telugu but that again was because of Lokesh Kanagaraj, whose Kaidhi was a blockbuster in Telugu.
As for Varisu’s Telugu release, I doubt it can handle the impact of VEERA SIMHA REDDY!!!
JAI BALAYYA! JAI JAI BALAYYA!!!
Balayya X Shruti=Hot pair of Andhra Pradesh.
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hari prasad
January 7, 2023
The last time a Chiru movie and a Balayya movie clashed in Sankranti , we in Tamilnadu were blessed with Vijay na’s Bairavaa , which too coincidentally was an old fashioned masala movie , whose audio rights were sold to Lahari Music / T – Series and had a multi lingual guy whose well known here and there as it’s antagonist.
I wonder what happened to that movie..
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MANK
January 7, 2023
Hari, Amitabh Bachchan played both father and son in the hindi Suryavansham., take that!. It was Big B singing peepal ke patwa pe in Sonu Nigam’s voice to Soundarya that pretty much ended his career as the solo star hero.
Btw once thing common between Bairava and Varisu is Vijay’s horrible wig. I remember Brangan trolling Vijay or a bad hairdo in Bairava review, even after all these years he still hasn’t managed a decent enough wig.
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MANK
January 7, 2023
Aman, jai jai balayya for sure. Balayya is unstoppable after the 100cr grossing Akhanda. BTW this one looks like a carbon copy of Legend. Not that there ever was much difference between 2 Balayya movies, but even the trailer looks like carbon copy.
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hari prasad
January 7, 2023
Legend ah , naa Simha la nenachen…
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brangan
January 7, 2023
Is LEGEND playing on any OTT? Really want to watch it 😁
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Aman Basha
January 7, 2023
BR: Adigadigo oka dharma khadgam, chala reginida oka abhyamu ga. He’s THE LEGEND, THE LEGEND
Have fun 🙂
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brangan
January 7, 2023
No no. I meant that Saravana Stores guy movie. 😄
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hari prasad
January 7, 2023
He said he would release it on a popular OTT platform as a Pongal treat , probably on Hotstar.
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hari prasad
January 7, 2023
A glimpse of The Legend , BR…
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Balasubramanian Ramakrishnan
January 8, 2023
Since BR brought up “The Legend”, here is a shameless self plug of my podcast episode about the movie. It was a thoroughly riveting movie-watching experience. Probably the best 3 hours spent in a movie theatre in all of 2022 for me. I’ve never seen anything so weird play out on a movie screen.
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hari prasad
January 8, 2023
Shivarajkumar plays the antagonist in a Rajini movie that also features A10 , well this is interesting to hear..
Aduthu yaaru Telugu industry la irundhu Balayya va Nagarjuna mams ah?
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KayKay
January 9, 2023
“He said he would release it on a popular OTT platform as a Pongal treat , probably on Hotstar.”
One good way to ruin Pongal I guess!
But I too am curious to see this Legendary train wreck, because since TR stopped directing movies, we’ve been deprived the treat of watching these “so bad, it’s beyond surreal” type flicks like “Monisha En Monalisa” and “Veerasami”. The closest is those self-funded Power Star movies. The only real kick in the chest for me would be to see the late, great Vivek in one of his final screen appearances here! Kadavule!
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Satya
January 9, 2023
“Aduthu yaaru Telugu industry la irundhu Balayya va Nagarjuna mams ah?”
Even if nobody comes from the Telugu cinema, it will still be fine for me, as Rajinikanth has a good fan base in the Telugu speaking states as well.
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hari prasad
January 9, 2023
Wait , Ramya Krishnan plays Rajini’s wife in this movie , right , that’s what I heard in the news…
So yeah , you’re right Sun TV doesn’t need a bankable star to cash in on the Telugu market , they already have two of em…
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Jailer Vikram
January 9, 2023
Did Petta Kabali do well in the Telugu states? These two were hits here. 2.0 I know was very well received. When I Google, I get that Petta & Kabali were flops in Telugu states, as the selling price was high. From my memory, among the 80s stars Karthik had a good Telugu Market, (along with Kamal, Rajini) Nowadays Karthi seems to have a decent market there with even Sardar doing good. I was surprised to see his Dev movie posters splashed across Hyderabad during its release.
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hari prasad
January 9, 2023
The Sivakumar sons always had a strong market in the Telugu speaking areas so much so , even if a movie doesn’t do well here in TN , that movie does a great business there like for example , Singam 3 didn’t set the box office on fire here because of the constant postponing of the release and the Jallikattu protests but it ran superbly in Andhra and Telangana despite the presence of Khaidi no 150 and Gautamiputra Satakarni…
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hari prasad
January 9, 2023
I think it all started in 2005 when Chandramukhi , Anniyan and Ghajini’s respective Telugu dubbed versions performing much better than the original Telugu movies like Mahesh Babu’s Athadu …
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hari prasad
January 11, 2023
Didn’t you catch the press release of Varisu , BR?
Everyone including BS Maaran had posted their reviews now , neengalum Vaadha Kodangi Vadivelu dhan balance…
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vijay
January 11, 2023
If Sarathkumar’s performance was ‘moving’ that sums it up…not that much was expected in the first place
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Anand Raghavan
January 11, 2023
Want to appreciate Lokesh for Master after what has been done in Beast and now Varisu(not seen it). He genuinely tried something.
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karzzexped
January 11, 2023
Oh the dummy villain and the dummy mummy wordplay made me ROFL 🤣.
@BR – Question for you.
Mild Spoiler (who am I kidding):
Didn’t you find the whole board room scene to be a little ‘À La Vaikuntapuramish’?
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Spandana
January 11, 2023
Most star hero vehicles have love interests and I always ask – Does the movie care to explain why these two people like each other. Obviously I’m not expecting an epic swoony romance, but two lines of dialigue explaining their connection would be nice. No, legs don’t count (Ala Vaikunthapuramlo, in case anybody was blissfully unaware)
It doesn’t help that most stars can’t conjure up an iota of chemistry with their co-stars to bring something to an underwritten romance through their performance. But that’s probably for the best (I don’t want to see 60 YO Chiranjeevi have any kind of chemistry with 35 YO Shruti Hassan)
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Rahini David
January 11, 2023
So the threat that BR may in spite of himself give this movie a glowing review because of the Appa Sentiment was a false alarm after all?
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Ravi K
January 11, 2023
[looks at posters for Varisu and Thunivu at the movie theater, eyes darting back and forth]
“One ticket for Veera Simha Reddy, please.”
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Caesium
January 12, 2023
It’s just phenomenal that Vijay has such a market pull (irrespective of the movie)! Wonder what would happen to Tamil movies landscape in 25-30 years.. Would there still be such stars and star-vehicles? I’m not sure if I can bank on SK to fill this void..
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Shankar
January 12, 2023
Just got back from watching the film…with all the fair warning of keeping expectations low, this was all about mass entertainment. Agree with the lack of depth in the screenplay, and the surface treatment of the plot, but I can clearly see this film being a hit. In the star lineage (not acting, just to be clear) of Sivaji/MGR, Rajni/Kamal, it is a wonder to see the box office pull of Vijay/Ajith…don’t think there are others in the horizon with that sort of market effect. That said, it will be nice if they can give us some “good” films…I did like Master, but they are far and few in between. Vijay is getting older, as you can see on screen, but man, does he move well…some really nice choreography in this. BTW, I was struck by the number of green-screen shots in this film…given that there was really no real location references, abroad shoots etc., in the film, the whole film could have been one giant green-screen production! 🙂 Well, I guess, just as BR was quoting the film-goer’s reaction after seeing the film, we could also use a “break” in this layoffs infested tech economy (at least in the US), and not have to “think” for a few hours! 🙂 🙂
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vijay
January 12, 2023
“I’m not sure if I can bank on SK to fill this void..”
hope nobody fills these ‘voids’..its pathetic enough that TN entertains such jokers for over 2 decades..this kind of fan worship and cultist mentality(thanks in part due to Dravidian politics) that doesnt probably exist even in Bihar
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MANK
January 12, 2023
Now we know why Varisu and Thunivu was released together. Released on its own, even the hardcore Vijay fans would have abandoned this, but since it came alongside the arch rival’s film, the fans will buckle up and endure this for the sake of their and their star’s egos. This is the game that Ajith and Vijay has repeatedly played to bolster their stardom. The fans and the paid media sites would be quick to pronounce both blockbusters even if they underperform- which was the case with Jilla\Veeram. Unlike MGR\Sivaji and Rajni\Kamal where each star had their own USP, these two dudes make exactly the same kind of trash. Thunivu could be Beast reloaded while Varisu could be Veeram remixed.
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vijay
January 12, 2023
The real winner in this is Udhayanidhi the distributor who would be minting (depending on how these films do)..as he is distributing both these films..thats the master game thats being played, its not just the stars competition
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Hari
January 12, 2023
@Mank Valimai and Beast – solo releases – both opened huge in T.N., and then subsequently fell off. I don’t think there is any ‘strategy’ to the combined release. If anything, it’s a disadvantage as the screens get split. BR has sort of panned Varisu, but other reviews are fairly positive (unlike a Beast which was unanimously panned), so I don’t think people are ‘enduring’ the movie to ‘beat’ Thunivu.
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Rahini David
January 12, 2023
BR, I think it is impressive that you watched two long movies and reviewed both of them in both written format and video. You will be quizzed about both at length in Q&A forever and a day, that alone would unnerve me.
Not only did they come up in Galatta.com & YouTube on time, you also came and posted them here for what is apparently a niche audience.
You could have easily abandoned this blog when you moved to more happening places like YouTube, Twitter or Instagram, but not only you keep it active but share funny anonymous letters and encourage new Reader’s Write In writers by encouraging them expressly.
Much Appreciated.
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Spandana
January 12, 2023
Speaking of star hero romances, apparently it takes getting high on cocaine for Shruti Hassan to fall in love with Balayya. Points for self awareness.
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Sam
January 12, 2023
Wikipedia is showing this movie’s budget as 280 crores – can anyone clarify why it might be so high?
Wiki lists the budgets of both AVPL and Maharshi (Paidipally’s previous outing) as 100 crores. Even among Vijay’s last 3 films, the highest budget is at 180 crores for Beast.
280 crores is blowing budgets for similar movies out of the water.
Is this some sort of tax write off scheme or what lol
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shaviswa
January 12, 2023
@Sam
Most probably. Money laundering happening in TN cinema for a pretty long time now I guess.
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Meghnath
January 12, 2023
How would you compare this with say a ‘Viswasam’, considering both are family dramas?
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brangan
January 12, 2023
Rahini David: Thank you for that very sweet comment. Why do I keep the blog going? Because I owe it everything.
First there were print, then TV critics. I was among the first of the “blog generation” critics, and the blog is how so many people found me. Otherwise I would be known in Chennai as the Indian Express critic or the Hindu critic (I am talking about the pre-web site days).
So if I have this career today, it is due to this blog, due to people finding me through this blog.
And thank you – and others – for continuing to be a part of this journey 🙂
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Jeeva Pitchaimani
January 12, 2023
You could have easily abandoned this blog when you moved to more happening places like YouTube, Twitter or Instagram,
@Rahini (Palanichamy), neenga(nee) enna thairyathula ipdi pesi palaguringa(palagura)? [Gounder in Thirumathi Palanichamy]
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KayKay
January 12, 2023
“Unlike MGR\Sivaji and Rajni\Kamal where each star had their own USP, these two dudes make exactly the same kind of trash.”
Brother MANK, truer words were never spoken!
With MGR/Sivaji and Kamal/Rajini, one can at least debate at length on the whole “Perfect Actor vs Perfect Star” divide.
With Ajith/Vijay am unclear what the difference is to get their respective fan bases all fired up. They’re both perfect Charisma Vacuums churning out barely watchable dreck annually.
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hari prasad
January 13, 2023
Thanks Rahini ka for making BR prepone his ” 20 years of BRism” speech today….
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hari prasad
January 13, 2023
There’s a shitload of successors for Rajini and even MGR , but who’s gonna succeed Kamal as the actor who can also be a star?
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Padhma Ranganathan
January 13, 2023
There’s a shitload of successors for Rajini and even MGR , but who’s gonna succeed Kamal as the actor who can also be a star?
@hari prasad – Dhanush
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tamil thanos
January 13, 2023
Was anyone irked by how the movie initially tried to normalize divorce and made a complete u-turn after that? They at least made it look like it was the choice of the woman but it still sends a wrong message. Why should one really tolerate a toxic family? Rumors have it that Vijay doesn’t tolerate his own parents and gives them a cold shoulder, oh the irony.
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hari prasad
January 13, 2023
But unlike Kamal , Dhanush doesn’t have “variety” in his roles; either he plays the role of a gangster or it’ll be different versions of the middle class Selvaraghavan movie protagonist…
Asuran , Shamitabh and the first half of Naane Varuvaen , where he played the role of a teen daughter’s father are exceptions.
I would say Vijay Sethupathi , he has variety of nice perfomer roles but his movies of late as a star aren’t working with the audience.
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Honest Raj
January 13, 2023
Reminds me of this comment from four years ago:
https://baradwajrangan.wordpress.com/2019/01/24/why-the-sivaji-ganesan-kind-of-stardom-isnt-possible-anymore/#comment-100883
In terms of ‘range’, Dhanush is by far the best actor out there today.
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Madan
January 13, 2023
Dhanush has tremendous range and the lack is more in the imagination of directors and perhaps the audience too. I mean, how can you blame only directors if audience still thinks that Vijay-Ajith are better than Dhanush?
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Madan
January 13, 2023
That being said, cancel my Kamal fanclub card if you want to but I liked Vijay in Beast more than Kamal in Vikram. There, I said it!
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Raghu Narayanan
January 13, 2023
IMHO, honestly, I feel that there is nothing…NOTHING…out there in terms of acting that Kamal Hassan cannot do…and when we talk of ‘range’ in acting, Kamal has, for a long, long time now, been a ‘range definer’ all by himself. His career has been an absolute gold mine filled with the purest of nuggets, till date. So yeah, again IMHO, by far the greatest actor India has produced.
We can talk about Dhanush without even thinking about comparing him with Kamal. Yes, agree that of the current lot of the top 5 or 10 stars, Dhanush does have the ability to pull off a greater variety of roles. And perhaps also has the courage to experiment, at least in a limited sense. But yes, better than Vijay and Ajith in terms of his acting skills. Of all the ‘V’ titled films that Ajith did, he probably missed out one ‘V’ – Variety. Might have done him some good there. Vijay-na probably has not yet come to ‘V’ yet. Still in ‘U’ for ‘Uni-dimensional’. Whether I am a doctor, or a CEO (a la Sundar Pichai) or a magician or a cop or a Professor or a football player – I can only do ‘fighting’!!!
And yes, the point to note and the question to ask is, does today’s environment – both in terms of what a producer/director wants to offer, and in terms of what the audience at large want to consume, provides enough space for a ‘top’ hero to do something like a ’16 Vayathiniley’ or a ‘Swathi Muthyam’ or even a ‘Salangai Oli’ at least????
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Madan
January 13, 2023
Lol @ the V Ajith hasn’t got to.
And yeah, agree that a Salangai Oli cannot be made today. Although Kamal opined otherwise in Vikram success meet, Raja himself (speaking about his work with KB on Sindhu Bhairavi) asked bluntly whether Vijay or Ajith would be remotely interested in a project like SB.
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Raghu Narayanan
January 13, 2023
No, neither Vijay nor Ajith will be remotely interested in doing a Sindhu Bhairavi today…And I would be even more disinterested in seeing them try it out… 🙂
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gnanaozhi
January 13, 2023
@BR, when The Legend himself uses a screen rip from a pirated copy of The Legend to celebrate the release of the movie….. There is no hope for it.
Yeah that’s right, Legend Saravana shared a screenshot on twitter to celebrate the movie a few weeks ago and it was from a torrented version.
Sadly this piece of cinematic mastery will forever remain lost to us mortals now
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Akhilan
January 13, 2023
Maybe Suriya in terms of variety… ? (At least up until Singham came around…?) 24, Soorarai Pottru, Jai Bhim, after that… But yeah slim-pickings nevertheless.
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Hari
January 13, 2023
Vikram was touted to be the next Kamal in the early 00s, but once he also started drifting to ‘mass’ films (Majaa, Bhima, Kandasamy et all), that hope faded fast.
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hari prasad
January 13, 2023
Yes , he did the Vikraman hero ™ role perfectly in Unnai Ninaithu after Nandha , did a light romance in Sillunu Oru Kadhal after heavy action hero duties in Ghajini and Aaru , did Ayan and Aadhavan after doing a career defining performance in Vaaranam Aayiram , did a rural subject like Pithamagan right after the urbane and the cool Kaakha Kaakha.
He acted in a fun AVM production like Perazhagan as a hunchback , while simultaneously acting as a no nonsense student leader in Mani’s Aayutha Ezhuthu.
He superbly balanced both the star and actor aspect in him , till Singam’s mega success.
I remember Baddy lamenting that why can’t a star like Suriya elevate small movies with his presence in a rant about Anjaan , looks like he answered him with Baddy’s all time favorite , Jai Bhim..
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hari prasad
January 13, 2023
Majaa wasn’t exactly a ” mass ” movie , its first half went like breeze with Vikram striking comedic gold with Manivannan , Pasupathy and Vadivelu , its at the end portions that the movie took itself seriously and became a ” mass movie “.
Also , it had some terrific songs from Vidyasagar like this melody
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Eswar
January 13, 2023
Let us keep aside the range and the type of movies Ajith and Vijay make for a moment. As two individuals working in a particular field, their achievement is not only remarkable, but it is almost improbable for most of us to achieve even in our field. Most of us are nobody in what we do. Still, it is them whom we are criticising. In spite of their humongous success, it is their choices that are being questioned. They are perfectly aware of their strengths and are sticking to them. Isn’t this what Buffet and Munger describe as The Circle of Competence? Wouldn’t this be the recommended path in any other field? The real irony is while we expect range and variety from these actors, we stick to what we know in our work. We rarely risk our income, status and reputation to explore our careers. But we expect them to risk theirs? The reasons behind their choice of roles and movies may not be very different from those that drive our decisions in our field of work. If our choices sound reasonable to us, then maybe their decisions are not that irrational too.
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hari prasad
January 13, 2023
Annaatthe was mercilessly trolled but it still raked money , Beast was trolled yet it was not a washout flop for Sun TV and Valimai recovered Boney’s budget and he gave Ajith – Vinoth another movie trusting them , despite receiving mostly negative word of mouth.
As long as the consumers are ready to consume mediocre material , the producer will give us mediocre material…
It’s up to us to protest against this in a large scale…
Also , less the risk , more the profit are the star and the producer’s motto…
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Raghu Narayanan
January 13, 2023
@Eswar: Good POV…well made!!!
Speaking from personal experience, not sure if we can make a blanket claim that we do not take risk in our careers nor look to expand on our skills. And not that no one critiques our work. Ahem…bosses and performance reviews? 😀
Yes…if we are talking about the scale of success, then yes these guys’ success is Himalayan and my achievements personally can’t even be ant sized in comparison. And of course these guys have played the field really smart and over the years too…knowing what their game is and influencing their support crowd to keep staying at the top. Really remarkable in that sense.
But why can’t I critique these guys, or anyone for that matter, whose work is done for my consumption (not personally, but for people like me) and their success is dependent on my consuming what they offer? In other words, they became a star because I consumed their work and so, does that not give me a right to call out what I don’t like about their work? Again, in other words, do I not have a right to call out what I don’t like about a product that I buy but is not upto my expectations? And for doing this do I have to have achieved success on a scale that these guys, or whoever I critique, have achieved in my own field of work? Or should I have done in my field of work all that creativity and variety that I am expecting from these guys?
I think we all have our critiques in everything that we do, fair and unfair critiques for sure. And the scale is purely a factor of the scope, who consumes our work and the risk/reward variable.
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Srinivas R
January 13, 2023
@Eswar
As consumers who pay to consume what they produce and given the oversized influence of these stars have on the movie industry and the society, I feel well within my rights to question their choices. A Vijay/ Ajith starring in dumb movies pulls the whole Industry down. It takes oxygen away from variety of subjects and feeds it back to massy no brainers. If they happen to endorse regressive ideas, it is propogated in the society. This is true of any other star but right now Vijay & Ajith are the biggest stars (how dumb is TN fandom?) and we have to question them. Ofc the society is to blame too, but these stars have a stake in keeping the society dumb as it means lesser leg work for them to satisfy the audience.
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Madan
January 13, 2023
What Raghu Narayanan and Srinivas R said. We CAN critique Ajith and Vijay as consumers of cinema. It’s the same as if I got a bad car from Suzuki, you can bet your last dollar that I am going to blast them and the fact that they are the market leader would be irrelevant.
By the way, I don’t think risk aversion is a winning ticket anymore in corporate except for certain roles. The unrelenting greed of the capitalist machine demands that employees think ‘outside the box’. Disruption is the big buzz word now.
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KS
January 13, 2023
@Eswar:
“? The real irony is while we expect range and variety from these actors, we stick to what we know in our work. We rarely risk our income, status and reputation to explore our careers. But we expect them to risk theirs?”
Um, sure. Thats why we are all nobodies commenting on a blog, instead of commanding an army of brainwashed fans and earning hundreds of crores for walking in slow motion. Can’t we have higher expectations of stars who, in your own words, have remarkable achievements in their fields? This is too close to fans abusing critics saying “nee oru padam eduthitu pesu”.
Though I kinda disagree with that premise that they are remarkable, so maybe you have a point. Neither Vijay nor Ajith are achievers of any note. Neither of them are notably talented or deserving. In a fickle industry like mass commercial cinema, they were just lucky to be in the right place and time to capture the batons of our silly tradition of dual rivalry (aka Rajini-ya? Kamal-a?). I mean, it was just a very short phase of bad luck and poor choices that deprived TopStar Prashanth from being where Ajith is today.
Once that dual rivalry was set, both have been buoyed by fanatics all along, and all they had to do was periodically fuel that toxic fan energy to keep them on top. And its reached a point where we go in circles and say “if they’re this successful and have such a mass opening, surely they must be high achievers with remarkable appeal, and maybe their film choices too must have a deep solid reasoning to it that must be taught in management schools?”. Reminds me of Benoit Blanc’s final monologue in Glass Onion.
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KayKay
January 13, 2023
“That being said, cancel my Kamal fanclub card if you want to but I liked Vijay in Beast more than Kamal in Vikram. ”
Madan!!!!!!
Bro, leave aside everything that’s crappy about Beast as a movie (which is, pretty much, you know…everything!), but even by his low standards, Vijay sleep walked through that train wreck.
Since Beast is quite obviously channeling Die Hard, Thala (Vali) tries aping the sardonic wit of a John McClane, but simply comes across as bored and disengaged.
After all, when you’ve cashed your paycheck which exceeds more than half the movie’s budget, why bother with that silly little thing called giving a shit?
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KayKay
January 13, 2023
Vijay or Ajith doing a ‘Sindhu Bhairavi’remake……idhu kandippa Horror-genre than solla mudiyum! Kadavule!
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Balu
January 13, 2023
While fans are obsessed over actors, rest of us seem obsessed over acting especially in the connotation that great acting == variety. I would like the actor be convincing in the role they perform in the specific movie I am watching. The fact that they did the same role 10 times or 100 times before is irrelevant. I don’t think people in general care either looking at the Box office success of Rajni, Vijay and Ajith.
I can only remember very few instances where acting in a movie was so bad that I disliked the movie because of the “acting”. In pretty much 9/10 times, the movie is so bad (story, screenplay, dialogues etc.) that it wouldn’t matter if we replaced the actor x by actor y. Granted that Kamal is a better actor than Vijay, would Beast be better with Kamal? Would Dhanush’s acting somehow shine through more than Ajith in Valimai?
Vijay’s acting isn’t a problem. He is as good as any other hero in the roles he picks. After all we don’t expect Usain Bolt to run marathons 😉 Now, if only the rest of the movie was good …
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Madan
January 14, 2023
Well, I think Kamal hardly acted at all in Vikram and the fact that that didn’t seem to bother Kamal fans is pretty bizarre. I am used to Vijay showing up and hardly acting and fishing for whistle moments instead. Kamal doing that was terribly boring, at least for me. The deliberate Ajith paunch didn’t help either and made him look ‘low energy’ as a certain famous personality of our times would say.
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Eswar
January 14, 2023
@Raghu. Thanks. I am not saying one should achieve something in their field to criticise them. I am only wondering if we are applying different standards to them.
@Raghu/@srinivas/@Madan: Sure, you can question. But isn’t it obvious why they do what they do? If we were in their position, would we do what we expect them to do? If we would, then are we doing that already where we could?
@KS: Sure, one can expect them to do more. But if what we expect from them would make them lose what they already have, would they do it? Would we do it?
Yes, luck does play a role. But one should know what to do with it. No? It is like winning a lottery or receiving a windfall. If one does not know what to do with their winnings, they will soon be where they started.
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Madan
January 14, 2023
” Sure, you can question. But isn’t it obvious why they do what they do? ” – I don’t see the relevance of that. Not to bring in Godwin’s law, but Hitler’s evil being very obvious doesn’t justify it, does it? If it is obvious two actors have chosen the path of least resistance, it doesn’t mean they can’t still be criticized for it. And I don’t agree with the sweeping generalization here that we would all choose to do likewise in their shoes. For instance, why would I even choose to write a book and spend a good amount to money to get it published in good quality paper and presentation when I already had a job that paid well? After all, even that is a risk given how toxic the environment is in some work places (“if you have time to write a book in your free time, why can’t you work longer hours?”). There’s more here that I could reveal but it’s confidential stuff so suffice it to say that I have taken a big risk and paid a heavy price for it but I don’t regret it and frankly, nor should anyone with the semblance of a spine. It’s like, you can’t learn to ride a bicycle without ever falling off off it. Or as a colleague once said to me, risk management is getting yourself an umbrella to brave the rain, NOT staying home in fear of it.
So I don’t agree that ‘everyone’ would choose to bank it if they have a golden goose. Kamal himself is the greatest counter-example to what you’re saying. If anything, I think it is unnatural that those for whom the world’s their oyster would be content with mediocrity. Dissatisfaction and a constant desire for self-improvement are normal manifestations of ambition.
Oddly enough, in this supposedly spiritual country full of ‘deep wisdom’, it is considered extremely smart to NOT do any of that and measure ambition purely in terms of bank balance, acres of land and number of vehicles. Dare not somebody sink money in an ambitious but ultimately commercially unsuccessful project and you will get a whole line of armchair experts ready to tell that person (who might be a seasoned director or actor) that he was a complete fool for taking a risk at all (‘aisa kaun karta hain’ in Hindi). So between two categories of armchair experts, I think the ones that restrict their criticism purely with the ‘product’, i.e. the film, as opposed to career counselling or financial management, are preferable because at least (a) they are honestly giving their opinion of a film they watched (consumed) an (b) they are respecting boundaries.
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Eswar
January 14, 2023
@Madan: I understand it comes across as a sweeping generalization. I am aware there are exceptions to what I am saying. That is why I keep posing it as a question or using qualifiers like ‘most of us’. Still, it doesn’t help. My apologies for not wording it better.
I agree that people take the odd path. I also think that people who have taken that odd path know what it means to take such a path and be less critical of others who couldn’t or wouldn’t. I think this is one reason why people within the industry are less critical of their colleagues than outsiders.
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Madan
January 14, 2023
Re the last line, OR they simply would not like to lose the opportunity to work with the successful because of something they said. So when Ilayaraja took a dig at Vijay and Ajith, he was clearly signalling he didn’t care if it offended them and they could stuff it. Or when Rahman waded into the nepotism debate and alluded to camps that made it difficult to get work in Bollywood. The problem in the industry since the last 30 years, aka the beginning of the star system, has been that not many are as comfortable in their own skin as either of the two and seem to feel compelled to please everyone. I really don’t get this obsession in the Tamil film industry with ‘sounding humble’ which is just a mask for playing nice at all costs. If eccentric gadflies aren’t tolerated in the creative fields, then which ones?
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Eswar
January 14, 2023
“OR they simply would not like to lose the opportunity to work with the successful.”
I used to think something similar. But since it is such a difficult place to survive, I started feeling that maybe they are genuinely less critical of each other.
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brangan
January 14, 2023
Eswar: There is something inherently wrong about your comparison, IMO. Let’s take me as an example. When I was in a tech/corporate job, my successes or my failures would be known only to my team. I am judged by a very small number of people. But I cannot expect the same now. If I pan a JAI BHIM, I have to be prepared for a backlash. In other words, don’t step into the kitchen if you can’t stand the heat. We enter this “public eye” field well knowing what it entails. So along with the celebrity status (to varying degrees), there’s also going to be a micro-scrutiny. You are basically open season. You have to be open to being meme-d, trolled, etc.
A person inside an office, who risks little (as you say), is not a brand/product in the market. Vijay/Ajith and others definitely are — and they WILL be criticised (or praised) by huge numbers of people who PAY MONEY for this brand/product. “Fair” or “unfair” has nothing to do with it. It is part of the game (or the life they have chosen to lead). 🙂
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Cholan Raje
January 14, 2023
Eswar: Not exactly a fair comparison IMO since Vijay and Ajith have the money and fanbase to take risks that many common men don’t.
Also, I personally don’t expect them to take risks. I expect them to do a good job within their comfort zones. That means using their influence to create movies that successfully deliver the things we expect from star movies (good songs, good fights, simple escapist story, etc.) rather than the weird films we get now that awkwardly try to marry masala to directors’ often contradictory ambitions and end up with nothing.
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Raghu Narayanan
January 14, 2023
@Eswar: ” I am only wondering if we are applying different standards to them.”
Yes, absolutely yes! And rightly so too. It is not hypocrisy to do so. Why? Because ‘standards’ should not be seen as ‘universal’. They have to be defined according to the subject / area of competency but will have to be set objectively and will have to be applied uniformly for all those falling within the category to whom the said standards will apply. So yes, different standards does exist in the world.
Let’s also differentiate a bit here. Nobody is judging them morally as to what their life choices are. But they are being judged for their professional work output. Differentiated standards exist everywhere. Will the CEO of a company be judged with the same standards as an entry level staff? Or, in other words, will an entry level staff be expected to show the same level of creativity, skill and leadership abilities as the CEO? If, as an entry level staff, I expect the CEO to be more creative and skilled than me, is it applying double standards?
However, comparing a Kamal to a Vijay is legit. Applying the same standards to both and calling out Vijay / Ajith for not being as creative and bold in their choices or for simply not being as good actors as Kamal is also absolutely legit. And none of those standards will apply to me in the area of work that I do. And that is also absolutely legit.
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Jailer Vikram
January 14, 2023
There will be no other Kamal. Dhanush has a superb range snd screen presence, but he doesnt have the passion for cinema which Kamal manifests. Leaving all that aside, my simple grouse is that Dhanush still cant get the different La/Na in Tamizh. Where’s the effort? His lyrics have streaks of brilliance but content to be banal mostly. Which is why his success is restricted to a few collaborations.
VJS & Vikram have better intentions, but their terrible choices have robbed them of any future prospects (as hero). Suriya is better, but only slightly. His next is with Siruthai Siva enough said
Kamal running from pillar to post to promote Vikram, trying to make his interviews/press meets interesting, getting into unwanted controversies while thinking out loud, facing dismal failures – this is a man who’d do anything for cinema. I dont see any other player right now who comes close to this level of passion. H
True he comes across as a wannabe-intellectual at times, but this “wannabe” thing is not bad at all. After all it shows he still has the interest. Do we see an iota of this in the three mega Ts? (Thalaivar, Thala, Thalapathy)
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Madan
January 14, 2023
Well said. And to add, the CEO of a listed company usually does have to face the press and explain the numbers. CEOs of high profile companies get memed and trolled too, if not quite as often as ‘pure’ celebrities. So let’s change the argument a bit: does anybody actually fill sorry for Zuck? Has anybody, other than the Zuck himself, felt sorry for the Zuck ever?
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Hari
January 14, 2023
“but these stars have a stake in keeping the society dumb”
Ehm , preferring a certain type of movie over another does not make you smarter (or dumber)
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Madan
January 14, 2023
I agree but would also add that a part of doing a good job over 20 years in show business IS taking moderate risks to refresh the formula. Otherwise it gets stale, repetitive and boring. There are a few non movie exceptions -nobody would want KBC to be seriously made over. But even KBC have increased prize money and changed lifelines. Unless you are a Tamil superstar, you don’t get patted on the back for making the same movie over and over again. With Rajni, at least his charisma was such that even non fans, even people up North wouldn’t deny it. With Ajith-Vijay, there is a lack of anything to explain it other than to the devotees to whom the appeal is evidently obvious.
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Honest Raj
January 14, 2023
Kamal running from pillar to post to promote Vikram, trying to make his interviews/press meets interesting, getting into unwanted controversies while thinking out loud, facing dismal failures – this is a man who’d do anything for cinema.
In the context of Vikram’s promotions, it should be clear that he was doing it for the film and himself. In this regard, Rajini is leagues ahead of Kamal. Have you seen the promotional events of Darbar which took place in Hyderabad/Mumbai? Or, his speech at the audio launch of films such as Robot and Vikrama Simha (the Telugu version of Kochadaiyaan)? Even for a low-key release like Kuselan, he managed to rope in CBN for the launch.
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Jailer Vikram
January 14, 2023
Honest Raj – The sheer number of events Kamal took part just for Vikram is higher than Rajini’s entire list of publicity events for his last 5-6 films. Rajini would take part in one or two high profile events which would get very high coverage & media discussions. How many interviews of Rajini are there on Youtube (leave alone the pre-Internet era). His usp was & is to remain elusive and it works out well for him.
Also to be fair to Kamal, he has been promoting most of his films Dasavatharam, Viswaroopam, Hey Ram, Indian, Avvai Shanmugi in other regions. Not just this decade. And the Vikram thing was just after his Covid infection & election whirlwind tour (the local body elections). Whereas Rajini prioritised his health during Annathe shoot & release (rightly so – not criticising him for that)
My basic point was – Kamal has that urge. So someone aspiring to be his successor should necessarily have that kalai thaagam bordering on kolaveri – which I dont find here. An Aamir, SLB, SSR, Mysskin, Vetri, Bharathiraja & ofcourse Sivaji Ganesan kind of intensity
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Honest Raj
January 14, 2023
@Jailer Vikram: I’m talking in terms of ‘scale’ rather than ‘effort’; however, when viewed from the latter angle, I agree with you!
On a related note, how would you rate Parthiban? Doesn’t, he come across as a wannabe… UN? 🙂
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vijay
January 14, 2023
Eswar if somebody were to extend your logic Modi, who has presumably been far more successful as a politician than anybody here (in their profession) here should never be criticized for any missteps on economy or otherwise..I think you have taken Raghuvaran’s famous line from Mudhalvan ‘nee oru naaL CMa irundhu paar’..as the framework for your argument 🙂
To help you out (and I think we have debated this before in another thread) what you probably wanted to emphasize but did’nt quite was that we should not consistently expect Vijay and Ajith to be having a huge appetite for risks given the 200cr market which is at stake and thats a fair, atleast debatable point, especially since things have been going fairly well for them in recent times, so why fix anything?. My ire has been in equal measure towards their fans as well. I think thats where we left it off last time and I remember agreeing that I dont expect them to change their formula much either given the 200-300cr market at stake unless the core fanbase outright rejects 2 or 3 films in a row(and they are making that difficult too because of the monopoly that DMK exerts on the distribution business virtually shutting out all other releases).
But that doesnt mean I dont have any business to call them out on that..as a film critic or as a consumer or as even a passive observer..right?
I mean, what else then will BR write about?:-) he needs to pack his bags.
I think the POV matters..Like somebody else mentioned I dont expect Ajith to play a role like Anbe Sivam or something.and even if he does am not sure how palatable it would be even for his fans..but within the masala template they keep churning out stale stuff which all look like extensions of each other..and I think as a film connoisseur/consumer you are not being hypocritical to call them out on that. Especially when some of their own peers like Fahadh Faazil/Prithviraj or Kamal or Aamir or even Dhanush/Karthi (with a smaller market but nevertheless)have done much better in that aspect in the past and present and still get called out by folks from time to time for their misadventures..
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Eswar
January 14, 2023
BR: The difference I see from your previous and current role is: previously, a small set of people judged you, and you also knew who they were. So I suppose there were unsaid rules regarding how and what they could judge. In your current field, the criticism comes from a larger group that does not have a face. So your point of view makes sense because it is difficult to know who is criticising you and cannot always engage with them. However, this is not true for the person providing that feedback. I can tell an engineer working for me that their work does not meet my expectations, but I cannot tell them they are not fit to be an engineer. Likewise, I can tell why an Ajit or Vijay movie does not work for me. But to state Ajit or Vijay is not fit to be an actor or they do not know to choose movies is me crossing a line. Criticising them without consideration merely because they choose to work in the open does not seem right. Before criticising, shouldn’t I be validating my criticism? How do I know if it is even valid? One way is to imagine me in their situation. Or introspect what I had done when I had to make such decisions. Your view is probably the right way to look at it for anyone in your field. But that does not automatically give me permission to criticise without being mindful.
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vijay
January 14, 2023
“How do I know if it is even valid?”
how would you validate your taste ? Art is much more subjective than engineering and you have your own relative compass with which you judge it.
When you criticize Ajith/Vijay you are criticizing a brand, quite akin to you giving a harsh review and a thumbs down on a branded product online in amazon because of your experience regardless of the several likes and thumbs ups the product gets from others..
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Madan
January 15, 2023
“I can tell an engineer working for me that their work does not meet my expectations, but I cannot tell them they are not fit to be an engineer. Likewise, I can tell why an Ajit or Vijay movie does not work for me. But to state Ajit or Vijay is not fit to be an actor or they do not know to choose movies is me crossing a line.” – So, once again, the issue here is an engineer who works with you is your colleague but a movie watcher does not have the same relation/equation with the star. As I said earlier and as vijay put it too just now, it’s more like a consumer criticizing a brand. A dissatisfied consumer is not going to be, um, measured in his critique. He is just going to say, “You should not be in this business if you can’t do a good job”.
And trust me, in a previous org where the systems were horrific, I’ve had customers write to us saying we shouldn’t do exports. This is fair game and even more so in business, you do not get to tell the consumer what to think about your product. Oh, I remember Shereen Bhan interviewing Ashneer Grover soon after his ouster from Bharatpe and Ashneer fanboys and other wannabe chads/alphas as applicable flooded the comments telling her to quit her job – and she’s been at it for almost as long as the likely age of some of those commenters. That comes with the territory as BR said. I do agree that often times, especially in the social media age, this criticism gets toxic (especially when there’s a misogynistic dynamic as in the Bhan-Grover case). But I would be more sympathetic to Vijay/Ajith if they didn’t already have an army of fans ever at the ready to dunk on those who criticise their fans.
So, rather than Raghuvaran, I am going to use a famous Kamal Haasan line and you know where I’m going with this : “avangala nidutha sollu, naan nidutharen”. It’s for similar reasons that I, as a diehard fan of Raja, don’t go around asking people to be kind in what they say about him because there is already a self styled ‘mafia’ online ready to take vociferous umbrage over even considered and considerate (if disagreeable to them) criticism. The first step is for fans to stop behaving like the unofficial PR agents of their idol and then we can move to a normal discourse and ask at least for decorum.
Having said that, I don’t think a critique like Ajith can’t act is bad form. It’s a very normal thing in America or UK to say someone can’t sing/play if they made a couple of mistakes in a recording. It’s essentially elevating the standard expected of a professional who claims directly or otherwise to possess expertise in that field – aka it doesn’t matter if Ajith can ‘act’ in absolute terms but whether he lives up to his billing as a star actor who commands a premium. Now if people start doling out more colourful vocab like mayiru and all or make personal attacks on him, I would say that’s too much. But he is right royally eligible as an actor and public figure to have his work brutally torn apart.
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vijay
January 15, 2023
..and plus if i get a bad product from a branded company I can even drag them to consumer court in certain circumstances in addition to venting my ire..can Vijay/Ajith ever be dragged to a consumer court for overselling (what I consider as) mediocre stuff? If i feel cheated all i can do is vent my ire somewhere and am pretty sure they are’nt even going to read that..they have their own echo chambers that moderates and feeds them what they like to read..In other words cinema is one business where you can promise ‘an action packed thriller’, ‘a family entertainer’ and deliver anything but that and still get away with it thanks to the subjectivity of it all..and as a bonus you also get a nice fat 100 crore paycheck..
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therag
January 15, 2023
It seems like this debate springs every time there is a Vijay/Ajith film. It’s quite simple, every industry needs a tentpole. Google can’t pay for Waymo without the cash-cow that is the search-ads business. In a business as random as film business, a brand that can bring in X crores at the minimum is basically a godsend. No wonder the entire industry bows down to these two.
Now as to why their product sucks – their product has always sucked. They care about their brand only, Ajith quite openly. It is not like this is new in TN is it? How many MGR films today are watchable? Heck, how many good films has Rajni made in the past 25 years?
Why they became popular and retained their popularity in the first place? This one is a little complicated and there’s never one reason. Of course, being at the right place at the right time is very important (in almost any industry). Someone above questioned if after 25-30 years, there’d be someone to take their place. I’m going to argue that as long as Tamil is a rallying force to reckon with, there will always be a need for a ‘Tamil’ star. I’m sure someone 25 years ago said the same thing when rajni-kamal were ruling the roost. VJ and Ajith happened.
What are Vijay and Ajith’s qualifications you ask? They’re Tamil, and they act in Tamil films. Sometimes it is just that simple.
I feel this is perhaps what Bollywood is missing. Usually, the top of Bollywood was the “Indian” superstar. Rajesh Khanna, Amitabh Bachchan, SRK. The current politics has not exactly been kind to Bollywood and have painted them as anti-national. This perhaps also coincided with Bollywood focusing on the international market (perhaps to the detriment of its local market) which made their job easier. Bollywood’s USP was that they were the goto market for “Indian” cinema. Now they are under siege. The only thing that seems to unite the Hindi film market today is Hindutva (Kashmir files).
In some ways, having VJ and Ajith around actually bodes well for Tamil cinema. It means there are still people who will watch Tamil films no matter how bad they are. They are keeping cinemas afloat for when there is a movie you actually want to watch. Just don’t make the mistake of buying into the hype trains and watching VJ/Ajith/Rajni films. Enjoy the subsidised tickets for PS and Thiruchitrambalam.
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Satya
January 15, 2023
“In some ways, having VJ and Ajith around actually bodes well for Tamil cinema. It means there are still people who will watch Tamil films no matter how bad they are.”
So, Vijay and Ajith are as good as the necessary evils they play in films? That’s comforting…
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KayKay
January 15, 2023
therag….some good points but…some I just need to, shall we say…address?
“their product has always sucked.”….Hmmmm…I remember a time when Vijay did stuff like “Thulladha Manamum Thullam”, “Priyamanavale”, “Friends” etc. Yeah, I know then he took the far more lucrative “Mass” route, but even there, I wonder if it’s too much to ask he gives us more “Gilli”s and “Thuppakki”s as opposed to “Sura”s, “Theri”s and “Beast”s? As for Ajith, I guess movies like “Valee”, “Kandukonden Kandukonden”, “Mugavari” are but a distant memory, and unlike Vijay, there isn’t a SINGLE Post-Thala movie of his I’ve enjoyed, except maybe “Yennai Arindhal” which as far as I’m concerned is a GVM as opposed to an Ajith movie.
“What are Vijay and Ajith’s qualifications you ask? They’re Tamil, and they act in Tamil films”
Only Mr. Joseph Vijay Chandrashekhar fits that bill totally. Ajith is half Tamil and half Sindhi technically and Hyderabad born. Marudoor Gopala Ramachandra Menon was a Sri Lankan born Malayalee who became the biggest star in the history of Tamil Cinema and went on to govern the state, to boot. Another Super Star is Marathi by birth.
So, I reckon it’s not so much as they’re Tamil as the fact they’ve captured the adulation and imagination of Tamil Movie fans who I’m sure aren’t blind to their antecedents.
“How many MGR films today are watchable?”
Strictly a matter of opinion, I acknowledge, but I find many many classic “Vathiyar” flicks to be eminently re-watchable. Anbe Vaa, Enga Veetu Pillai, Adimai Penn, etc etc.
“Heck, how many good films has Rajni made in the past 25 years?”
Though none of them are without flaws, I’ll wager the likes of Sivaji, Endhiran, 2.0, Kaala and Petta contain more filmic craft than Ajith/Vijay’s entire oeuvre during the same period.
“In some ways, having VJ and Ajith around actually bodes well for Tamil cinema. It means there are still people who will watch Tamil films no matter how bad they are.”
Not quite sure how this is a good thing. It means producers will increasingly be willing only to spend the mega bucks on these crapmeisters, with better movies only getting a fraction of the budget and worse, some genuinely ambitious albeit costly projects not seeing the light of day, because why take the risk when the likes of Beast and Valimai turn a handsome profit thanks to rabid fans getting served stale food fished out of a dumpster but lap it up like they’re eating a 7 course Nouvelle Cuisine?
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KS
January 15, 2023
@KayKay:
Exactly! I don’t know why people are arguing in the extremes. I don’t think anyone expects or demands Ajith/Vijay to make deep thought-provoking artsy movies. All I want, as a viewer, is for movies that have at least a modicum of intent, as opposed to the wobbly pastiche of fan service and manipulation that we get.
A Thuppaki or Kathi for Vijay, and an Aarambam or Mankatha for Ajith. None of these are artistically pathbreaking, but they channeled the star wattage into coherent stories to produce enjoyable movies. Even this is too much to expect from them today? These two have lowered their own standards so much today that even hoping for a half-decent masala movie from them seems like asking a lot.
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therag
January 16, 2023
@KayKay, yes I am well aware of MGR and Rajni’s origins. The process by which the Tamil audience elects its next superstar is not what you would call “scientific”. I suppose you could argue that it is a relatively organic process (in that the person from the right background need not always make it, whereas someone like SK or Rajni or Nagesh), but my point is that once you hit escape velocity and cross into the stratosphere, your output quality takes a pretty big hit. The Tamil mass audience is quite clear on what it wants and once they have an elect, they keep giving him repeat business…as long as he doesn’t tweak the formula too much.
It is indeed “possible” to make a good film involving a star (like Gilli or Thuppakki), but the fact that even these are once-in-a-decade films means it is probably not as easy as we think. Quite a lot of these “good” films also fail, so the machine is tuned in ways to avoid this. Again, the point is to make a hit-generating=machine, not a good film. If you get a good film out of the machine, consider yourself lucky.
I agree that Rajni’s films are way better but his past few films plus the fact that he’s apparently signed a mega deal with Sun means Rajni is well on his way to joining them. He is from the Balachander school so I’m sure he’s aware how his output will be judged. He just made a business decision back in the 80s to stick to the commercial template.
Yes, Tamil audiences consuming the crap served to them is not the greatest thing, but any industry needs some protectionism in order to sustain. For Tamil cinema, this comes from the fact that there will always be a dedicated Tamil audience. The drawback is that by and large, they endorse these crappy mass masala films. Kollywood basically needs their Marvel. Before you go “Oh but the average Marvel movie is so much better made”, I really couldn’t care less. Frankly, I’d watch a Thunivu or a Vedalam over the average Marvel movie and this is a hill I’m willing to die on.
If you look at Kannada, for a long time, they were known for making mostly mediocre films, but their films always had a dedicated audience. Watching a movie in Kannada is a habit for a decent number of people and that is very important. Compare that to something like Marathi- they are known as that industry that produces a lot of great films but not enough people are “in the habit” of watching Marathi films, no matter the quality.
Kamal Haasan was a one-time miracle. There’s no one like him today, even the post-Vikram KH is arguably nothing like the Kamal upto Virumandi. But there are heroes who do give you decent to good films at much better rates than VJ/Ajith. Simbu, Karthi and Dhanush come to mind. Their markets are not as big but that is the trade-off.
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hari prasad
January 16, 2023
Apo padathula hero la style nadapparu , ipo hero style ah nadakkuradhaye padama edukuraanga..
A lot of fans today had came to the ” Thiraippadam vendam , un pugaipadam podhum” and ” Thalapathy , Anirudh bgm oda nadandhu vandha podhum” mindset..
Sadly , that’s the kinda approach most of today’s directors follow when it comes to mass cinema..
Even Vignesh Shivan in the Galatta Plus Tamil roundtable said something like that..
Just make the hero say some bland punchlines , make him walk in slow motion by wearing stylish outfits , have him punch and kick random goons outta Earth to a loud BGM and make him dance to a song sung by Anirudh…
So , the heroes act in those sorta lackluster movies and though they’re widely panned , they still bring in a ton of money…
Quality takes a hit but the movie becomes a hit and that’s what our heroes want…
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Dhari
January 16, 2023
Keeping the discussions on acting ability to the side, it is surprising to see so many people conveniently forget some of the high-risk experimental roles that Ajith did which usually are considered counterproductive to one’s stardom, while he was a top-5 level star. He did a womanizing negative role (which is kind of like the lowest of the negative roles when it comes to Tamil cinema) in Vaali. For someone who was known for his good looks for a long time, he did a gutsy move and appeared with an unclean look (with filthy teeth and all) and unappealing posture in Citizen. He played a paralyzed, mentally challenged person in Villain and an effeminate dancer (during a period where his lack of dancing skills was well known) in Varalaaru.
These are the kind of characters that usually invite ridicule from rival fans, and one wrong foot can easily spell the end of stardom. Except for the KS Ravikumar ones, others were helmed by debutant directors, so he did not have any guarantee on how they can turn out. All four of them turned out to be enjoyable outings (at least for me). I can easily imagine a Kamal, Surya or Vikram doing such roles, but the same cannot be said of the other top stars like Vijay, or even Rajini.
It is true that he hasn’t experimented much from Mankatha onwards, where he grew his fan base exponentially and stabilized it. But to couple him with Vijay saying both have stayed only within comfort zones for their entire career sounds plain wrong.
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Eswar
January 16, 2023
@raghu: In your example, I feel that scope, responsibilities and standards are getting mixed up. It is true that, compared to a CEO, my responsibilities are limited. Still, within what each of us can do, there can be a comparable standard.
@Cholan Raje: Yes, Vijay and Ajit can take more risks than ordinary people. But they also have more to lose (not just in terms of money) than ordinary people.
@vijay: Yes, I remember our conversation :-). I understand there is a place for film criticism. I have no problem as long as it is about the film itself. My objection is when the criticism is not limited to the movie and the actors’ performance. When criticism goes beyond the film, how does one validate it?
@Madan: Yes, that lack of relationship/equation makes a difference. But I don’t know if it requires actually knowing that person, or is it sufficient to be conscious that there is a person behind that product. For example, in this blog, there is generally a sense of respect and boundaries are honoured, even when all commenters don’t know each other personally. I wonder if seeing actors as products prevent seeing the humans behind them.
By the way, apologies for reopening this conversation after a couple of days. I couldn’t respond sooner.
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Madan
January 17, 2023
” But I don’t know if it requires actually knowing that person, or is it sufficient to be conscious that there is a person behind that product. For example, in this blog, there is generally a sense of respect and boundaries are honoured, even when all commenters don’t know each other personally.” – Well, I just don’t see how those boundaries are crossed by criticizing actors for their acting. That’s just criticizing their work, not the persons they are. On this blog, we can’t criticize each other’s work because for the most part, we are not acquainted with it.
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Raghu Narayanan
January 17, 2023
“Still, within what each of us can do, there can be a comparable standard.”
Yes, there can be comparable standards. But really the question is what can be compared with what. Again, going back to my example, can a standard set for a CEO be compared to that set for an entry level staff? Answer is no because standards vary based on scope and responsibilities. It scales up and down based on the scope of work/impact/risk and the entailing responsibilities and authority as well. However, this example too is linear. If we are to consider a non-linear example – can / should we compare and/or apply same standards to, lets say, a vegetable vendor, a store clerk, a cop and a top actor/star? Would not the standards we apply to evaluate their work be based on the scope of their work, the authority they wield, the impact their work creates on the society and the responsibility they carry?
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Eswar
January 17, 2023
@Raghu: If honesty, quality of work, and not being corrupt are a set of standards, would you say a vegetable vendor can have a poorer standard than a cop because the impact is low? I don’t think so. If I believe it is alright to maintain a lower standard since my scope is limited and my impact is less, then I am unlikely to meet them when my scope and impact change. Yes, there will be additional standards to meet as one’s responsibility increases. Still, some standards do not change with increased or decreased responsibility or scope.
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Raghu Narayanan
January 17, 2023
@Eswar: Ok, so if we go into the specific aspects or attributes based on which every person’s work gets critiqued, then for sure there will be some attributes, such as honesty, commitment, sincerity, hard work, etc. which can be equally applied to all types of work. Would I expect an entry level staff of a company to be less honest or committed in his work than the CEO because the scope of his work or the impact is lesser? Absolutely not. But, please note that this very aspect of universal applicability of some attributes is the main reason why these attributes do not qualify for being used in an argument/debate supporting comparability of standards across varied jobs / careers / levels of work. The comparability or not of standards across jobs is decided not by what is universal but by what differentiates. Example, would you evaluate an entry level staff to have the same level of people-management or strategic thinking skills as a CEO? This is exactly the reason why I went the non-linear way in the example before, that these disparate jobs have differentiated responsibilities that cannot be compared, hence the associated standards that cannot be applied across the board. Cops have different evaluation standards, as against a store clerk, who has a different evaluation standard as against a vegetable vendor. Honesty, sincerity, commitment are not areas of competency but personal qualities a person brings to the work he or she does. When critiquing the work of a Vijay or Ajith in comparison with a Kamal, there is no questioning of their honesty or commitment to work, but the quality of the output of their professional work. If lets say we are to evaluate their work only based on honesty, sincerity and commitment, would a producer not fix the same salary for both a Yogi Babu and a Vijay? What will the be basis for the huge differential? Should not the evaluation standard also be different for these two individuals?
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Jailer Vikram
January 18, 2023
@Honestraj: Parthiban is also wired differently. He is not the KRK type of rabble-rouser, but genuinely quirky. Inspite of his weird ways, he’s not gotten into much trouble in the industry. Barring Sukanya from Ulle Veliye & more recently, Blue Sattai Maaran, he has had a pretty good rapport with most. Our industry has many of these mavericks – Bharathiraja, TR, SJ Suryah, Kathir, Agathiyan, Selvaraghavan, Mysskin, Parthiban, even the passive ones like Cheran who let their emotions get the better of them.
Wannabe UN? Im not sure. UN despite everything has a good business acumen. He knows when to rein in his obsessions. Parthiban still hasnt found that sweet-spot paavam.
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