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‘Spotify: Cinema with BR’ Episode 8: Thoughts on ‘Vinnai Thaandi Varuvaaya’ (Movie of the Month)
Posted on February 24, 2023
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Baradwaj Rangan 
hari prasad
February 24, 2023
I rewatched VTV at Luxe Cinemas last year during Valentine’s Day with a packed crowd inside the theatre , I agree with your “VTV is a big screen experience” thing , its 100 percent true , even Simbu’s sometimes over obsessive and self indulgent first half Jessie Jessie polambals worked really well..
My eyes welled up with tears as if I’m watching that movie for the first time when I saw that scene where Simbu meets Trisha at her house after the latter stops her wedding scene and the subsequent Mannipaya song , that was the first time I wept while watching a movie inside a theatre , such a wonderful scene that was..
I would watch that movie again in a theatre just for that scene and the song ….wait I just booked a ticket to watch it this Sunday at VR 😁
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vijay
February 24, 2023
Maybe the only movie of GVM I watched in a theater in the last decade or so and thankfully it did’nt disappoint. The way he decided to end the movie by not having things neatly wrapped up and making both of them reconcile in a happily-ever-after was new as well. Because thats what his idol Mani would’ve done. He still did that in OK Kanmani which came a few years after this. So while this starts off like a Mani film with love-at-first-glance and all, it ends up being a different film as it progresses.
Maybe someday kaadhalum kadandhu pogum would be revisited like this, even thought it didnt exactly set the BO on fire.
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vijay
February 24, 2023
Mannipaaya is a song that I could’nt like instantly back then, because of the way Rahman’s portions start. One of those rare instances where it took quite a while for it to come together in my head. The way the kuraL “anbirkkum undo adaikkum thaazh” is inserted into the middle of the song as a choral line is one of its goosebump moments. Thaamarai has’nt been used effectively by TFM by and large in the last 15 years. It has now come down to the likes of ‘Poetu’ Dhanush and Anirudh jamming on lyrics with disastrous results.
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hari prasad
February 24, 2023
But Kadhalum Kadandhu Pogum isn’t a “romantic” movie , right?
It asks the question ,
“Why a boy and a girl should always be shown as either friends or lovers in movies?”
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brangan
February 24, 2023
The one thing I wish Mani had done differently in OKK is to show the “real ending” in a non-animated form, i.e. with Dulquer and Nithya in the frames.
The wedding was such a feel-good high point that people got up and began to shuffle out once the end credits started over animated clips. But that’s where we get the “real ending” was. Dulquer goes to the US. Nithya goes to France. They do their own thing in different continents, having an LDR (video calls, etc.) before getting together.
I think that was the first time a Tamil film showed people following their dreams AFTER marriage.
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vijay
February 24, 2023
..talking of Aromale, I wonder how some MDs/singers tend to get a longer rope while others dont in his industry..maybe this deserves a separate spotify episode in itself..when somebody with a non-existent baritone gets an extended run just for his slightly quirky bluesy singing like Sid Sriram, Alphons who already pioneered that kind of hybrid singing in Aromale and before that, disappeared after just a few songs. Such are the ways of our industry…
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abishekspeare
February 24, 2023
I saw a post on insta a while ago which said that if you removed the music from the omana penne sequence and just play the scene on mute(not the dance montage but just the scene in the train), it actually looks like karthik is borderline molesting jessie. The post kinda put me off because VTV is one of my favorite movies and i thought later in the movie she does say she liked him back too. However ‘no means no’ and she clearly says ‘no’ towards the end
Any thoughts on this BR/BReaders?
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hari prasad
February 24, 2023
But if Trisha hated or felt uncomfortable with what Simbu is doing , she would have slapped or atleast would have beat him with her slipper , but she didnt , it felt more like a weird sign that Trisha gives to Simbu that she is interested in him.
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hari prasad
February 24, 2023
You remember that scene after they reach Chennai , they have an argument where Simbu says that iconic ” Idhu Love Dhana Jessie?” thing , Trisha says that she is interested in him but she doesn’t want to face the same fate like her sister.
This was that push and pull thing that Baddy often says about the Jessie character.
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hari prasad
February 24, 2023
@abishekspeare : I remember asking this same question some months ago , I think it was in some Ponniyin Selvan thread.
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KS
February 24, 2023
Ppah..does everybody analyse romances this much? Room potu yosipangalo.
For me, a good romance movie is just a collection of moments that hook you. Its a simple recipe. Get a spunky charismatic hero, a cute heroine, add some sublime ARRahman or Harris Jeyaraj soundtrack, shoot in picturesque (but accessible) locations (like ECR). Maybe sprinkle a little comedy and crackling dialogue to lighten the mood occasionally. And then sit back and just hope that the ingredients blend and create magic. Like Professor Utonium and chemical X. Thats all the director needs to do.
Sometimes the magic happens, like in VTV, Alaipayuthey, Minnale, Varanam Aayiram, Paiyaa (1st half). Because the ingredients are all there, and they came together perfectly. Other times, it doesnt work, like in OKKanmani or NeethaneEnPonvasantham. OKK was too bland and low on spunk, while NEP didnt get the ingredients right (Jeeva is not handsome or charismatic enough to be a GVM hero, and the music too was too pedestrian for the urbane GVM style).
But when it does work, it sweeps! I mean, I don’t remember much about any of these movies when it comes to the stories or emotions or subtleties of romance. But many of the scenes and sounds and images color that entire time period, and form the montage soundtrack for memories of that phase of life. The moments also serve as templates to fill with your own fantasies
The story can go to hell. Its always the same shit- love at first sight, stalk, fight, love again, fight, family trouble, misunderstandings, reunion, yawn. Adding more realistic subtleties to this and making a whole thesis for critics to wax about the complexities of modern relationships does nothing for the movie. I wish the directors just stick to a stock story, and focus instead of the scenes and getting the ingredients right.
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hari prasad
February 24, 2023
Neenga enna sollalaye 😁
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Madan
February 24, 2023
KS: I get your point and agree: romances work on chemistry rather than arithmetic for me (and that’s for movies generally, but especially with romances). But GVM made a particular type of talky, pyschobabbly movie with both VTV and Varnamayiram where this kind of analysis becomes inescapable (same issue with KJ tearfests). I prefer the really light ones that Holly had perfected in the 90s – starring either Meg Ryan or Hugh Rant. That genre was unbeatable for failsafe entertainment. I think Indian cinema’s fondness for melodrama makes it hard for our filmmakers to make that kind of light romance – esp Tamil filmmakers must perforce insert some or other sentimentu in it.
The closest I have seen to a Holly style romcom was Sitaramam which managed the split between the light and likable moments and the emotional passages well. Also Kabhi Haan Kabhi Na but that’s, again, back in the 90s.
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brangan
February 24, 2023
KS: Ppah..does everybody analyse romances this much?
What a strange comment on a blog of a critic (and commenters) who “analyse” everything related to movies and music! 😀
Now, I completely get that you want to just relax and enjoy a film. But then, you should be on some other blog, no? 🙂
I enjoy NOTTING HILL. I have also taught a class in which we analysed how beautifully the screenplay toys with the “rich girl-poor boy” template.
It is not either/or. You can enjoy AND analyse.
Otherwise, you can say this of everything…
Ppah, vijay – why analyse Aaromale so much, talking about kural and all! Just enjoy the vocals and music, no?
Why analyse anything at all, for that matter? 🙂
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KS
February 24, 2023
@brangan:
Nono, I thoroughly enjoy vetti analysis in general 🙂 My point was not to suggest that we should just relax and enjoy movies instead of analyzing.
Just that it gets very repetitive in romances, and distracts from what, in my opinion, is the defining feature of good romance movies- namely the feel and vibe. As Kamal would say, romance-a anubhavikkanum, aaraya koodathu. Rather, I think the analysis focuses on the wrong aspects. I would anyday take a sloppy problematic romance as long as it has a “mood”, over a complex layered relationship drama that is meh.
Simply because romance and relationships are inherently boring and mundane, with very little content for interesting complexity. We can all see or experience that shit in real life anyway. Why suffer through more of that inanity on screen as well, that too for the millionth time? The complexity of relationships misses the whole point of movie love stories, which is to let us vicariously live through beautiful moments. Again, this is just an opinion.
@Madan:
Exactly! Light and breezy are my keywords. Don’t show me the deep emotions and complexities of relationships. Give me Surya serenading Sameera with a guitar, Maddy peeking out of trains looking for Shalini, Simbhu racing against a rasaali, Karthi sneaking glances at Tamannah through his rear-view mirror. Backed by a haunting score. Thats what I, at least, go to a romance movie for.
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hari prasad
February 24, 2023
The last major Tamil love movie that was too light devoid of any seriousness like Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa was Vijay’s Sachein.
Yes , Vijay speak some dialogues like ” I should be identified by people as myself , not as X guy’s son” , ” adutha nimisham nichayam illadha vaazhkai , mudinja varai ellaraiyum sandhosa paduthuvom ” but they are kept in check.
Attakathi is a nice example of a ” love story ” not taking itself too seriously and has 0 place for melodrama.
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Voldemort
February 24, 2023
To add to the nitpicking/overanalyzing, I feel that for all the laurels that GVM gets for portraying relationships, most of his leads find their love at first sight. Also, the level of travelling that his heroes do to meet the girl of their dreams is downright creepy. Would you feel flattered or would you get creeped out/scared when someone who you only saw once on a train, who somehow found your house and met you for 5 mins has travelled all the frigging way to America for you ? And then, you go ahead and invite him to stay at your house. Remove Surya and add a scary BGM, and there, you have a horror story.
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Voldemort
February 24, 2023
Just heard this episode, very well done. Agree on the lack of romances. We had Sita Ramam last year, but before that it’s difficult to think of one memorable romance movie across (Indian) languages in the recent past. I feel you would write a great romance BR. The things you tell here of Gautam – microscope la vechu feelings uh paparu – you do it very beautifully too. Write a romance novel or at least a short story like the The Call (speaking of which, when I read it I thought you named the lead character Bhagirathi because she would be a BR too then 🙂 )
To the one who mentioned about KaKaPo, I share your enthusiasm and love for the film. It’s such a beautiful movie.
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Shankar
February 25, 2023
It’s not in the recent past by any sense, but Annayum Rasoolum stayed with me for a while, in the context of romantic movies…it’s not breezy or light, but there was a certain poignancy and earthiness about it, which I loved.
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brangan
February 25, 2023
Voldemort: Remove Surya and add a scary BGM, and there, you have a horror story.
In short, you’d have DARR. That’s why the tonality matters. Yash Chopra set out to make a stalker movie, while GVM set out to make a romance. There’s a “melisana kodu” between the two, sometimes 🙂
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KayKay
February 25, 2023
“We can all see or experience that shit in real life anyway. Why suffer through more of that inanity on screen as well, that too for the millionth time? ”
And….just like that, you’ve become Public Enemy No 1 for 5 million soap-opera addicted housewives across the globe:-)
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Madan
February 25, 2023
“Simply because romance and relationships are inherently boring and mundane, with very little content for interesting complexity. We can all see or experience that shit in real life anyway. Why suffer through more of that inanity on screen as well, that too for the millionth time? ” – Now this I don’t agree with. There is nothing inherently boring about romance especially if one party is fancied by some other(s) than the one he/she is with. I just don’t like the GVM/KJ talky-mode of exposition of it. Falling In Love is a brilliantly enacted take on two middle agers losing interest in their respective spouses and finding love in each other – a rare sighting of RDN in a non-gangster role. Even last year’s Where the Crawdads Sing had romance, betrayal, mystery all in one and while nowhere near a masterpiece, at least it kept it nice and snappy at just over 2 hours. In fact, riffing off BR’s mention of Darr, there is fertile ground within a romantic mode to turn one of the lovers into a malevolent creature and veer into psychopathy. Gehraiyaan sort of goes there too.
But…you either mix murder and intrigue with it or you handle complexity in a mature way without a shitload of dialogue (if, that is, you are not going for the light treatment). So far, I haven’t seen too many of at least our mainstream filmmakers fare well with the latter. They immediately switch into 70MM nadagam mode. A notable exception was the late great Hrishida who brought about a collision of romance and professional envy in Abhimaan. But again, that was a different time and also a sensibility largely alien to Tamil cinema which has tended to lean towards talky throughout its different stages of evolution.
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musical v
February 25, 2023
Romance is a foreign word and sentiment.
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vijay
February 25, 2023
Rom-coms and rom-dramas are mixed up here. Rom-coms are often ‘light’ and ‘breezy’..But a Raajapaarvai or VTV or KaKaPo are’nt meant to be that way, they are just Roms (or Rom-dramas if you are genre-obsessed like USA)..they may have their moments of levity but they look at relationships or explore the aftermath of love..would you bracket “Before Sunrise” along with “The French Kiss’ or “when Harry met Sally”?
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vijay
February 25, 2023
“Write a romance novel or at least a short story like the The Call ”
he did write one a few years back but unfortunately I guess it did’nt see the light of day. It had VA’s Divya Spandana in it
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Ashwin Kumar
February 26, 2023
What a beautiful analysis of romance. This one was awesome.
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hari prasad
February 26, 2023
Is anyone here watching VTV at VR , Chennai?
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Anand Raghavan
February 26, 2023
Heard from my nephew who is from 00s and went to watch this, his gen had turned up in large numbers.
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hari prasad
February 26, 2023
I was surprised that the theatre got full for a 13 year old movie , let alone a romance movie.
The audience were too receptive and appreciative.
The Hosanna , Mannipaya songs and the scenes that precede them all got thunderous responses from the crowd.
I wish BR was at VR , PVR seeing people react to that scene where Simbu meets Trisha after she calls off her wedding , he would have shed an ” aanandha kanneer ” like Suryavamsam Sarathkumar.
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hari prasad
March 20, 2023
I read the script of this movie recently by downloading it on the Film Companion website..
I noticed that the script for the climax was nowhere to be seen..
Did Gautham left it open whether the Karthik character went to Kerala again with Ganesh to ” kidnap ” Jessie or did the guy who transcribed the script forgot to include it?
Did you read the script and noted this , Baddy?
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