Resonance ...

Lisbeth Salander - a few gender perspectives

2012-01-21T16:56:00.000-08:00

Lisbeth Salander (played by Rooney Mara in "The Girl with the Dragon tattoo (2011)") is easily one of the most powerful and hence impressionable female protagonists I have ever witnessed on-screen. She displays a disrespectful attitude towards almost every man and woman she encounters. She doesn't really care about morals or conventions - thus outwardly anarchic in every activity she does. She doesn't crave for love and is utterly unfriendly. Her gothic physical appearance with rings, tattoos and extravagant eyelashes would mark her as a countercultural symbol (of the 60s/70s punk culture).

Lisbeth's sexuality (she does appear nude in many a sequences) is characterised with a specific macho-ness and hence is devoid of the "tickling" sensuality presented usually with eye-candy ladyleads on-screen. This aspect of Lisbeth's characterisation should be a feminist film theorist's delight - as Lisbeth, in my opinion, counters the "gaze", quite successfully.

The gruesome and detailed presentation of sexual assault on Lisbeth, in a way, prepares the viewer to take the "righteous" side, that of Lisbeth's, late in the movie. The stylised vengeance with which she bounces back was reminding of Uma Thurman of the "Kill Bill" series, but the uniqueness of Lisbeth's cult is there to stay. Her vicious stares and actual physical assaults on many a men present her as the agent of destruction but as viewers, we approve her action as we have been made aware of what she has endured.

In light of the blatant sexism with which a woman's intelligence is portrayed in general in movies (the hollywood "blonde stereotype" cinema, for example), this movie presents a refreshing take. As Lisbeth hacks into Blomkvist's computer and Blomkvist brags about his "encryption", Lisbeth spurts out a condescending "Please" - You get the dynamics there.

The film also presents a really interesting sexual politics with the woman-on-top lovemaking sequences. While her "controlling" of the activity is more demonstrative of the idea, her disinterest in romance would remove any last traces of the "usual" femininity associated with a woman.

Motorcycles and computers are a kind of modern phallic symbols - the former representing physical valour and the later, intellectual superiority. Lisbeth, not just simply masters them but approaches gadgets with a ridicule in her body language - it just looks as if she is too fast for them. Her intellectual dominance on Blomkvist (played by Daniel Craig) in solving the actual case presents another perspective. Daniel Craig has been playing James Bond 007, who is quite an alpha-male, both physically and intellectually. Though Craig's performance in this movie was not reminding of Bond, it was somehow interesting to have a female character which counters Mr.Bond himself.

Movies, Cinema Posters and Cut-outs

2011-07-28T07:14:00.000-07:00

Vaasanthi writes in her "Cut-outs, Caste and Cine stars".

The old lady opened her eyes and looked out from the window of her air-conditioned car. "What are all those dear?", she inquired about the figures that dominated the skyline.

'Oh, those are cut-outs, Mother', said the official lightly.'Cut-outs of our chief minister.'

Mother Teresa craned her neck and looked up at the sky. Jayalalitha's head was hidden among the clouds.

'Good heavens,' said a shocked Mother Teresa, "it's so huge!"

Her escort was amused by her reaction. 'Have you never seen such cut-outs ?' she asked. Still watching the passing parade of cut-outs, Mother Teresa replied, 'No, nowhere in the world.'

Cinema wall posters and cut-outs can arguably be regarded as "unique" cultural symbols of South India, more particularly in Tamilnadu and Andhra Pradesh. These should probably be the only states (in the world) wherein cine-stars contested elections after starting a political party on their own and went on to become chief ministers of their states. In that sense, Cinema assumes an important part of the social lives in these societies and hence Cinema posters will have an all pervasive presence. Cinema posters in movies provide a curious reminder of this ubiquitous presence of cinema posters in tamilnadu.

A few observations on this ..

A "shot" of the cinema posters in movies, many a times, convey or summarise the mood or course of the film.

In period films, cinema posters are an "essential" prop to re-create the social atmosphere of the yesteryears.

M.G.Ramachandran and Rajinikanth are probably the most represented stars on the cinema posters (in movies).

Over to the Photo essay.

Iruvar (1997), Mani Ratnam

Thavamaai Thavamirunthu (2005), Cheran

Veyil (2006), Vasanthabalan

Thotta Chinungi (1995), K.S.Adhiyaman

Subramaniapuram (2008), Sasikumar

Mouna Raagam (1986), Mani Ratnam

Phantom India (1969), Louis Malle

Mannan (1992), P.Vasu

Aan Paavam (1985), Pandiyarajan

Suvar Illadha chithirangal (1979), K.Bhagyaraj

Vaaranam Aayiram (2008), Gautham Menon

Boss Engira Baskaran (2010), Rajesh

Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya (2010), Gautham Menon

On Vijayashanthi and Bhavani

2011-06-10T10:53:00.000-07:00

The cult of Vijayashanthi is one of the lasting movie-going memories that I carry from my childhood. I have vague remembrances of watching several Vijayashanthi flicks with my mom and Vyjayanthi IPS [1990] is one of them. It was dubbed from the telugu movie Kartavyam [1990], for which she had won the National Award and this was supposedly the earliest movie in which the "Action heroine" tag was associated with her.

Vijayashanthi's on-screen persona (which she successfully extrapolated towards her political career later) should have been constructed with a detailed strategy, taking into account, the existent social norms and gender dynamics in the late 1980s. In an outright patriarchal society where all authority is vested in men, a powerful woman on-screen (who can thrash men aside) naturally enthralls the female audience. Further, in the Police officer roles she enacted in Vyjayanthi IPS et al, her characters were packed with double the power-quotient, in a sense. At one level, it puts her across as a brave and physically sound woman who is not intimidated (or controlled) by the males. Secondly, the "power" that is inherently associated with the police - with which she audaciously "controls" the proceedings.

Additionally, in the film promotions, Vijayashanthi was referred to as the "Lady Super Star", which again has some hidden sense. In the tamil cultural context, Super Star refers to Rajinikanth who can be seen as the macho symbol and on those lines, she is thus glorified as the lady with masculine traits. The Rajini-Vijayashanthi starrer Mannan [1992], exploited this association quite successfully.

Was watching (fast-forwarding) the Sneha starrer Bhavani [2011], which fails miserably because of one simple reason - it's not contemporary. A remake of Vyjayanthi IPS after 20 years won't work.

The film had an interesting catch though - instead of suggesting the "power" of the female protagonist symbolically or with her police attire, the film explicitly apotheoses Bhavani, thus combining two different genres of tamil cinema - the "Amman" cinema and the "female cop" cinema.

Image1: Bhavani's image is juxtaposed with that of big-mustached Karuppa Saamy (male deity).

Image2: Bhavani calls herself the Parasurama (One of Vishnu's avatars - male deity) with the axe.

Image3: Bhavani as the female goddess.

On Keezhvenmani, Thirumangalam and Banganapalle

2011-05-28T06:36:00.000-07:00

On one of those random scans through Kamal Haasan’s Virumaandi (2004), I was curiously captivated by the following short conversation that takes place between Sub-jailor Peikaaman (played by Shanmugharajan) and Dr.Angela Kathamuthu (Rohini), just before Virumaandi (Kamal Haasan) is brought for the interview, approximately 58 minutes into the movie.

Virumaandi (2004)

(the conversation in tamil)

பேய்க்காமன்: மேடத்துக்கு தஞ்சாவூர்னு கேள்விப்பட்டேன் .. ப்ராப்பர் டேன்ஜூர்ங்கலா ?

(Angela puts her pen down and with an assured look towards Peikaaman says Keezhvenmani)

ஏஞ்சலா: ப்ராப்பர் இல்ல ... கீழ்வெண்மணி

(As Peikaaman is noticeably jolted by Angela’s reply, there is a noise of opening of the door and Virumaandi enters)

With respect to Keezhvenmani, the film’s context doesn’t offer anything beyond this conversation, but the term per se, holds a lot of socio-cultural implications.

Keezhvenmani, a village in Nagapattinam district in Tamilnadu, shot to the national limelight (25^th December, 1968), when about 44 dalits were burnt alive locked in a hut, in a wage dispute between the landlords and peasants. Keezhvenmani massacre, one of the most horrendous genocides in the post-independent India and a national shame, was not covered in all diligence in the mainstream media and the then Annadurai government is accused of blacking the issue out. The representation of Keezhvenmani massacre in popular culture – cinema, novels etc is also considered inadequate and dishonest. A couple of important novels (Kuruthipunal and Sennel) were written on the subject and Indira Parthasarathy’s Kuruthipunal won the Sahitya Academy too.

Keezhvenmani massacre (25th December, 1968)

If someone has to look through the annals of tamil cinema on representations of the Keezhvenmani massacre, we might end up with Aravindan (1997) and Nellu (2010). Both the above movies were not even quoting the name of the village and hence end up as dummy portrayals. Aravindan made a joke out of it, depicting the whole thing in the first 15 minutes and went ahead with Sarath kumar heroisms. As I see it, only Kamal Haasan was bold enough to atleast quote the name of the village – Keezhvenmani, in Virumaandi (2004).

Disregarding the representations in cinema and novels, the Keezhvenmani uprising is a social churning representing dalit assertion towards social justice. It’s a symbol of the struggle against social, cultural, economic and all possible forms of oppression and exploitation and that is what is being constructed as a part of Angela’s character in Virumaandi (in the form of an intelligent and independent woman). Angela later recounts how she became Angela James and then Angela Kathamuthu again, to Virumaandi and this will suggest that she was exploited as a woman (domestic violence probably) in her marriage. Or, it can all be too simple ... Angela wields her dalit identity with pride and a self-assured aggression.

Likewise, Thirumangalam (Madurai district) made it to the political glossary after the assembly by-elections in 2009. Infamously referred to as the “Thirumangalam formula” patented by DMK’s M.K.Azhagiri, Thirumangalam henceforth might be used as the symbol of money-power in “buying” out votes. I think the mainstream media, including Jaya TV has already used the phrase “Thirumangalam formula” (the whole Jananayagam and Pananayagam discourse) during the 2011 assembly polls propaganda.

We can probably come up with various other expressions like the above – the name of a place being suggestive of something else in the popular culture - like Auschwitz (holocaust, concentration camps etc), the former USSR (Communism), the Tajmahal (love), Tihar, Mecca etc. The USSR-Tajmahal reference is obviously from Kamal’s Anbe Sivam.

On a lighter note, the bubbly Hansika Motwani is addressed as Palli-ye, Banganapalli-ye in the “Nangai” song from the movie “Engeyum Kadhal” and Banganapalle is the home of a famous variety of fleshy and tasty mangoes. :)

National Awards - 2010

2011-05-22T09:51:00.000-07:00

Aadukalam, when it bagged about six National awards including the "Best Director" at the National Film awards last week, reinforced the legacy and value of Director Balu Mahendra in the Tamil filmdom. Balu Mahendra, for all his genius was one of the most uncelebrated and unappreciated figures ever to grace tamil cinema, in his days. His Cinematographic legacy - the beauty with which he caught those empty living rooms in natural lights - would live on those reels forever. More than that, his proteges - Ameer, Bala, Vetrimaaran, Ram - who now form an eclectic band of celebrated directors of today's tamil cinema (with three of the above four having won National Awards for their films), articulate his name aloud. They are giving him frequent "ஈன்ற பொழுதில் பெரிதுவக்கும்" moments. For the sheer efforts which Balu Mahendra has put in transferring his cinema and artistry to his proteges, he is right at the top as an all-time great - ahead of even Mani Ratnam or K.Balachander.

Aadukalam, doubtlessly was a mainstream product packed with more commercial interests than auteuristic sensibilities. Roosters are outright Phallic symbols in any possible cultural discourse and Aadukalam, exhibiting several ethnographic detailing on those lines, would have been one of the reasons why the film is given so much critical attention at the National Awards. Dhanush, winning the "Best Actor" only surprised a lot of people, keeping in mind that Aadukalam was not even Dhanush's best performance. In a retrospective scan through his career, Dhanush has packed his powerful performances in may be, "Kadhal konden" and "Pudhuppettai" and this award should hopefully foster the capable actor in him.

For me, the biggest surprise was Saranya bringing home the Urvasi award for the sixth time. For an actress, who is well past her prime, doing character-centric mother roles - this is definitely an achievement. Saranya, for me, is one of those very natural performers with almost zero stage consciousness, acting out her parts with a stunning ease. Her Kongu origins is probably making me feel that she can very easily connect and emote with the audience. Saranya was not a very successful actress in the first half of her career - she always appeared deglamourised and in a masala-cinema era dominated by her male counterparts, she was permanently sidelined like any other actress those days. Her best performances undoubtedly came in her second innings - "Thavamai Thavamirindhu", "Raam" and "Kalavaani" stand out. These days, her amma roles are over-stuffed with a serial-like melodrama but the finesse she brings to her histrionics is evident - she is a standout performer.

And, finally the Dada Saheb Phalke arrived to grace the grand old man of Tamil Cinema - K.Balachander. KB emerged in the mid-sixties and was very much productive throughout his career in terms of the film outputs - he directed over 100 films which will probably stay as a record forever. The Gender dynamics that K.B dealt in his films in the late sixties till Mid-seventies with an unprecedented boldness should have literally shook the existent norms and taboos of the society (atleast what is being portrayed in cinema). But, he looked like he was caught in that time warp - the obsession that KB had in those relationship complexities and the middle class working women plots - he could never come out of it. That way, he never looked contemporary in say, the late eighties and thereafter. He would also be remembered as the man who sculpted two stalwarts of their era - Rajinikanth and Kamalhaasan.

Myshkin's Yudham Sei

2011-02-10T09:35:00.000-08:00

Myshkin is consciously working towards positioning himself as an auteur (atleast semi-auteur) in the tamil filmdom. All his films so far, were able to garner a decent commercial as well as critical acclaim. His films, though are flawed in several aspects, are constructed with a conscious rationale. His storytelling with "symbols" and innovative (read as abstract) shots only resound his potential. Even with flawed cinema, the relevance of his works is very much justified in the present day tamil cinema.

Tamil Cinema's confrontations with issues related to love and lust are here to stay. Myshkin however supplies a novel theme to this filmdom to exploit & abuse the already-pounded-to-death female sexuality - the peepshow. We are not exactly sure if this so-called "peepshow" is so much rampant in a normal Indian society but, when people (film directors) are on a search to bring in a new act of sexual perversion/ sexual deviance to garner that ever-important exploitative value to their films, days are not far, for Necrophilia to be treated in a tamil cinema. With so many films on gender, sexuality, exploitation, rape, karpu - so much of opportunity has been lost in communicating any kind of mature feminist perspective and again & again, it boils down to adultery - justification-for-revenge - lectures-for-audience dramas.

Yudham Sei is a crazily convoluted movie (probably with an intention). For about three-fourths of the runtime, you are anxiously trying to assimilate the big-list of names, facts and details that are thrown at you - Rajamanickam, Thirisangu, Isakimuthu, Moorthy, policemen, commissioner office, auto-driver, dance-class etc. Is everyone in the audience a CID officer ?. Cinema works with the audience as they identify - the character, his/ her name (if neccessary), the actor who play the character - all the three. When you get introduced to a character via a dialogue only, that "association" goes missing and hence, instead of getting involved with the narrative, you keep thinking who-is-who ?. There is a difference between "gripping" and "confusing", In both the cases, the audience will follow the narrative closely. There is simply so much of action going on - A couple of crime investigations are on, several pairs of amputated hands were displayed in public places on carton boxes, girls go missing, Cheran is roaming around like a loser, his sister is also missing, film is shot in the night time, auto drivers, several oldmen discussing "show" etc etc. "Yudham Sei" is confusing (before everything will be clarified in a flashback and you have to correlate all the facts in a jiffy).

Cheran who started out as a very reluctant actor in his "Autograph" has grown comfortable in front of camera these days. The characterization of J.Krishnamoorthy (with an obvious reference to philosopher Jiddu Krishnamoorthy) as a CID officer tries to break every possible aspect with which such characters will be stereotyped in our cinema. He is not athletic, he doesn't walk with a robotic precision, he doesn't deliver lectures on his commitment to the "department" and more importantly he is not thrashing the baddies in air. Infact, in the only opportunity that J.K is provided with to "fight", he uses a small nail-cutter to outsmart about eight people who were armed with daggers and jacksaws. That was one wonderful action sequence, one to remember definitely. The build of J.K's character with so much of emotions has come out spectacular - J.K is an ordinary man, he walks and feels like a loser, he is crestfallen in most of his screen-space, he speaks little, he runs instinctively, he is so much attached to his sister - so many dimensions - Cheran just performs with a definiteness.

Dipa Shah (Thamizh) who plays an assistant to J.K., looks more like Andrea Jeremiah (in the movie). Thank God, she hasn't fallen in love with J.K in the movie. Infact, there is a dialogue in the movie which will state that J.K is still a bachelor and so you will naturally expect her to "fall" in love ... luckily, she didn't. Jayaprakash, who is identified as the nextgen Radharavi/ Nasser/ Rajesh overacts and spoils the broth in many a places. As he (Judas) harangues at you with an artificial aggression (in a close-up), "What would you do, had your sister or your girl been sexually assaulted like this ?, will you not chop him into pieces ?", you only want the credits to roll on and the curtains to fall down.

YG.Mahendran and Lakshmi Ramakrishnan are unbearable with exaggerated emotions and according to me, are terrible miscasts. Shaved heads, black uniforms, open-wide eyes, machine-like walks after getting stabbed and shot - irritation all the way - violence is something that these two people (YGM and LR) can't communicate. Simple.

A few more things I would want to mention:

- The victims are tortured in a Saw-esque fashion

- The victims are "selectively" tortured - either eyes or hands or xyz - Garuda Puranam ?

- Judas (Jayaprakash) call "them" Devadhaigal .. why ?

- All Myshkin's item-song sirens are dressed in a yellow saree .. why ?

- the peepshow - Waterbed, Rose petals, BDSM, Grape pool, bondage - so much creativity !

Easan - some thoughts ...

2010-12-19T10:06:00.000-08:00

So many spoilers !

Easan, for the most part, expresses the wrath and fury of Sasikumar towards the city youth and the pub/ discotheque culture. We couldn't quite ascertain if it is "personal" but the kind of turbulence with which the title character Easan is charged with, stands proof for the above. As Easan clobbers Chezhian's (Vaibhav) head and spine with a huge jack hammer/gear rod or whatsoever, you feel that chill down your spine and that moment summarises the movie for you. Sasikumar's eye in detailing blood/gore/flesh finds an expression in Easan too.

There is a very natural dimension to the political/capital power - the contagiousness. A mere existence in its environment is sufficient enough for one to fancy power. Yes, I am very much referring to that tricky and elusive feeling - being the son of a big-shot, be it a big businessman or a politician, affordable only by the Mallyas and Marans though. It's something that has been exploited to a good extent in rendering a dramatic value to the script, with the characterization of Chezhian and his dudeism. That said, the acting and the dialogues in these areas are pathetic - the dudes are not cool and the dialogues are very artificial. The dudes could only manage constipated looks on their faces, trying to project themselves as ultramodern studs.

Easan, in the first half, exhibits a lot of promise, picking up a lot of engrossing stuff on it's way - business lobbying, corporatisation of politics, politicization of business, the night life in Chennai, a helpless and desperate policeman etc but when it all boiled down to an individual vendetta in the second half, you just feel a bit let down. Many a scenes hang in the air when you try to sync the first and second halves of the narration - especially, the Vijay Mallya stunt. Still, the aspiration itself, to depict the nexus between business and politics, is very much valid and appreciable. A couple of interesting diaogues were floated upon, during the conversations between Deivanayagam, the politician and Shivaraj, the businessman.

Abhinaya - being a handicapped woman, there has been (or will be) an intentional bias with which Abhinaya's performances has been (or will be) approached, which kinda makes sense. There will always be a "constant of integration" summed up with her personality while evaluating her performances. She plays a mute girl who becomes a rape victim in the movie. There is always a serenity and gloominess in her face even during the "happy-family" sequences. There is a fundamental dynamics based on which the anti-hero/villain & victim characterizations are constructed in movies - the differentiation in characterizations - they will be portrayed as completely alternate psyche's. The victim, who is a woman almost all the time, will be an embodiment of good virtues and will be associated as somebody who is pure, divine and beautiful. The anti-hero/villain will be presented with a sharp contrast with the former - with an unconventional/ awkward face, stern/rough voice, drinker/womaniser etc. To put it simple, the victim is 100% good and the offender is 100% bad. This is very important so as to invoke an intrinsic sympathy from the audience and to justify the hero's final combat with the villain. The victim's character need to be very strong to reinforce this and the quintessential examples of this phenomenon are Sridevi in "Sigappu Rojakkal" and "Moondru Mudichu", Ashwini in Uthiripookkal, Shobana in Mahanadhi etc. Abhinaya's character in Easan is one such portrayal.

There is an age-old sacred rule in tamil cinema - with respect to the physical assault on the female protagonist or any female character for that matter - Any degree of verbal or physical aggression on the rapist is simply justified by itself. In a patriarchal society, where all the socio-economic powers are vested with the men, men intentionally attached a "larger-than-life" importance and sanctity to the virginity of a woman. It not only helped men confine women within the houses but also let men free of these rules. Easan is the latest entrant reinforcing this social psyche - all those horrendous flesh-mashing by Easan on Chezhiyan is justified by itself.

That Sasikumar is severely critical of the pub and discotheque culture is evident at many places in the film. During the first half, the camera spins into a pub every tenth minute and it's a kind of condescending outlook that Sasikumar stamps on the western way of life and the modern youth. DJ, drugs, lust, moral degradation is all he portrays. Contrastingly, in a true Mahanadhi style, he shows how the life in a village is so calm, peaceful and satisfying in a flashback narrative. And, the "Nattar theivangal" are to be seen extensively in tamil cinema these days. It provides ample scope for detailing in a village atmosphere for the film makers. Vamsam did a whole lot of it recently and Easan budgets a good deal of time for the same.

The film also reinforces the healthy chemistry between Samuthirakani and Sasikumar. Still, what Easan lacks, for me, is that clarity in narration and good performances. For atleast the first half of the film, you keep yourself engaged in trying to identify the direction of the drama - you simply can't single out a protagonist-antagonist pair. Though its not mandatory to have the same, it has been the way our cinema has worked all these years and on the negative side, it will only diminish the curiosity that the audience has on the narration. You follow the engrossing drama on-screen and realise that Chezhian is a dude, Sangaiyah is the frustrated but helpless policeman, Reshma is a good looking babe, Deivanayagam is a kingmaker politician etc. But, that "so-what, what-next" feeling lingers.

Sasikumar commands a good fan following for himself which itself is a healthy trend - fans for a film director sounds good .. right ?. Of late, he is being viewed as the Midas of the tamil filmdom - all his previous ventures - as director, producer and actor are all stupendous successes both commercially and critically. Easan would be a tiny speed-bump on his otherwise illustrious career so far.

Vetty Post #2

2010-10-18T11:15:00.000-07:00

Sweet fumes of Nostalghia

A trip back to the Alma Mater is always special. It's been just 22 months away from her but the intensity of the Nostalgia was already sky-high. Six of us decided to make it to the "Waves", the cultural festival of the Institute ... If not all of us, I was not bothered much about the culturals. You just need a pretext to be there again - The very idea of walking through those familiar frontiers is always an excitement.

There is something very strange about Nostalgia - Only Nostalgia can transform the most mundane of the memories into very special remembrances, Only Nostalgia can render that special halo romanticizing the dullest moments of the past. Nostalgia, in a way is a very "selective" memory - You tend to relive and relish things which with some reason (for that particular individual atleast) are meaningful, sentimental or inspiring or whatsoever.

For me, Nostalgia about the institute was multi-diamensional ... Personal, Nostalgia about the places, the sense of social cohesion which the whole setup provided etc. Visit to the library, being under the Insti-roof , walks through the Shopping complex and the hostel corridors, breakfast at the Monginis - Very special moments they are - Longing for the past was just aggravating over time. As always during the "odd-sems", the campus was sparkling green.

Vasco da Gama occupies just three parallel streets and will look very ordinary in terms of the tourism value and the social life it offers but the kind of experience and memory that each of us carry with respect to Vasco is enormous. Dining at the Vasco Inn and Ginza's, snack at "The Temptations" were a part of the wish-list of all of us ... We ticked the boxes one-by-one. How can you travel to Goa all the way and not visit a beach at all ? - Bogmalo it was and a carefree four hours there.

This will well be incomplete if it doesn't carry a reference towards the perennial raconteur of the group - Cheenu. Cheenu's storytelling expertise is something which will age like wine - He did recall some of the evergreen bullet-points of our times there. We covered everything starting from Physics 1, Computer Programming exams, Mechanics of Solids project submission, duels with the profs, notoriousness at the labs, check-posts infront of BH1, Birthday parties and so much more - we had an additional audience for the above - the junior guys.

Those are "Good old days" ... {Read the paragraph 2 aloud again} :)

PS: "Nostalghia" is a 1983 film by Andrei Tarkovsky, one of my personal favourites.

Rajinikanth and his Endhiran

2010-10-02T07:46:00.000-07:00

Not a complete Review.

Rajinikanth is not a mere mortal cinema actor - he is a fantasy, he is an emotion, he is an impact, he is an impression, he is an experience, he is a perception, he is a sensation, he is a marvel, he is a mystery, he is a phenomenon in himself. His movies are not mere 24 frames per second shot with a digital video camera - they are an event, they are a festivity, they are a celebration, they are a detailed revelry to be relished. The moment a Rajinikanth project is announced, Tamilnadu tunes itself for an extravaganza. Everything "Rajini" makes news - still releases, trailer release, audio release - anything Rajini is consumed upon with a reverent devotion and authentic enthusiasm, which only Rajinikanth commands. The fanfare and the mass adulation submitted at this particular individual will be relevant at only one context - Rajinikanth. The fundamental rules of cinema, its narrative structure, its impact on the emotional system of the audience, its effect on the psyche of the spectator - all these seem to work different in this context - Rajinikanth.

"Cinema from an Idea" and "Cinema around a star" - each work in a distinct manner. During the studio days, when independent cinema was a distant idea, the studios required some kind of assurance and minimum guarantee at the box office. This is where the relevance of the "star system" emerges, the idea of the fan clubs and fan devotion arises. In the panorama of the "star system", the way a film works with its audience is altogetherly different. The audience, first of all tries to establish a one to one relationship with his favorite star and only after this, the settings of the story and the actual cinema walks into him. The production houses encouraged this idea with mass publicity campaigns and the actors endorsed the "fan activity" in large scales. There is an important drawback with the system though - How-much ever effort a particular actor invests in his performance, the audience will always perceive the personality above the performance. Thus, the idea of "fantasy acting" packs the final punch and the actual acting in a puristic sense - the "method acting" loses out in the race.

Rajini's collaboration with Shankar has marked a significant departure from the star-fan dynamics that Rajini has set in motion somewhere at the dawn of his film career. Rajini as a star was an altogetherly new phenomenon in the tamil social milieu. Stars who garnered mass adulation in the previous generations like M.G.Ramachandran and M.K.Thyagaraja Bhagavathar had "attractive" physical appearances (in a conventional sense), their roles were tailored in such a way that at no point of time the audience will develop a sense of aversion or uneasiness with their behaviour on-screen. More importantly, MGR and MKT had a huge following and popularity amongst women. Rajini broke all these conventions when he emerged - he had a rough angry man look, his complexion was dark, he smoked on-screen for almost 100 movies, he did spine-chilling villainy when he set out as an actor - Still, he naturally was the toast of the town with his active prompts and charismatic styles. But, it was the subalterns and the masses who initially were the patrons of the Rajini phenomenon, his popularity and stardom among the elites and women was something that happened at a much later stage. Coming to the star-fan dynamics - it was a totally different ball game those days - Rajini mostly played an angry young man who stood for the people, he fought for the poor in a simulated feudalistic society, he smoked lavishly on-screen, his characters were developed with cues of misogynistic and male chauvinistic behavior (in many movies). The audience enjoyed everything he did on-screens ... those were the audience who inculcated a sense of loyalty and integrity in them towards their "Thalaivar" and were the first generation fans of Rajinikanth.

Shankar has brought about a whole new shift in the way Rajini is perceived by his fans. Rajini stopped smoking on-screen (for a different reason though), he has started doing roles of a software engineer and Robotics scientist these days, he wears wonderful clothes, lives in rich bungalows - In all, he is portrayed as somebody whose standard of living is very high. This is in stark contrast with what Rajini has been doing all his career. How many times before "Sivaji" have you seen Rajini trying to woo a girl in all those details ?, How many times before "Endhiran" have you seen Rajini running away with his girl as somebody (Kalabhavan Mani) chase him ?. We all knew Rajini who used to say, "A Man shouldn't be in pursuit of a woman" and "Thaedi vandha kadhal" etc, we only saw him thrash tens of baddies. This is the "image makeover" I am trying to convey. "Endhiran" was an all new standard towards this particular idea - "Endhiran" carries no identity of a "Rajini movie", no styles, no punch dialogues, no intro song with the message to the audience, no freaking introduction scene. Its a Shankar film, its a Sci-fi film, Period.

Over to Endhiran: More than Vaseegaran - the scientist it was Chitti - the Robot who garnered all possible attention and applause. Wickedness and Villainy are the real "bread and butter" of Rajini's histrionics with which he started with. He does villainy right from his instincts ( "Mottae boss" of Sivaji is one more example on this light ). It is because of this intuitive performance, Chitti's character has come out so well that it looks almost effortless. Mufflers, pronounced collars, bandages - the costumes to hide Rajini's ageing neck serve the purpose but still, Vaseegaran does look older especially when he is seen alongside with the vibrant Chitti.

In Sivaji, we had Vivek seen with Rajini all the time which kinda irritated. This movie is full of Rajini - the presense of either Vaseegaran or Chitti is guaranteed in almost every frame. After Chitti Version 2.0's arrival, there are more Rajini's - 100s of them all through the frame - Satisfaction. The dialogues discussing Fibonacci series, Neural schema, medical terminologies etc provide a scientific feel but the songs' lyrics were over-stuffed with science tit-bits, I feel. The train stunt sequence and the final animation spectacle were real long - warrants choppings.

Though the film looks rich, I still can't find 160+crores on-screen. The "Machu pichu" song - "Kilimanjaro" was the most visually appealing. Resul Pookutty, AR.Rahman, the animation experts from the west, Rathnavelu - all are felt.

The commercial value of Rajinikanth, the star seem to be on a rise, there's no waning of his star value in the recent future - If an individual can set in motion so much commercial activity, If a cinema star can guarantee so much excitement to so many people, why should he ever retire from cinema ?

One important critic on the big budget productions involving stars of the stature of Rajinikanth is that, it heralds the arrogance of "Capitalism" in cinema production. Just observe - one or two weeks before and after the release of "Endhiran", you won't find any high profile film releases - Who wants their film to be washed away in the frenzy that "Endhiran" generates. Calculations are on - 2500 prints * 4 shows a day * 150 rupees per ticket - How many days does it take for the "Sun Pictures" to gross all the money that they have invested in. With all the media under their control and the kind of intense promo campaigns that they can manage, its a juggernaut of influence that "Sun Pictures" manages over the creativity industry of the state. And, it is the small scale productions and indie ventures that are promptly crushed on the way. Arguments discussing "consumer driven economy" will ultimately project capitalistic undertones only - Quoting Rajini himself from Sivaji - "Rich get richer and poor get poorer".

Vamsam - Review

2010-08-15T11:28:00.000-07:00

After delivering a path-breaking film as "Pasanga", Pandiraj would have indulged himself in a stream of thoughts if he should pick a so familiar one-liner for his next film. The sheer confidence that he would have had with his script and the kind of homework & research that has gone into it are apparent in the output as "Vamsam" stands apart way ahead of the films of this genre, with the fresh perspective it brings in. If the film's line has to be expressed with minimum spoilers, it would be - A clash between two individuals (belonging to two different lineages of a particular community) in a rural setting.

The film is set in a rustic & rural upcountry in southern Tamilnadu, which has a significant population of the "devar" community. There are eleven lineages in the village each of which is supposed to have a distinct occupation or skillset. The film's script is mostly engrossed with the antipathy & vengeance that brews between the descendants of two lineages (Arulnidhi, the protagonist and Jayaprakash). So much detailing & specifications are presented in depicting the 11 day revelry (thiruvizha held on an annual basis) and the murders that are meticulously planned & executed during the gala. There's a social dictum in place at the village that any death that happens during the above period shouldn't disturb the festivities and hence if somebody is unfortunate enough to die/to be murdered during the period, they will be cremated without the last rites and ceremonies, earning them a bad reputation after death.

The film opens with the display of various cultural mores in a thiruvizha setting (much similar to that of "Paruthi Veeran") with a hint of hostility between Arulnidhi and Jayaprakash. There is so much details left with the thiruvizha itself that Pandiraj chooses to narrate the entire proceedings (of the thiruvizha) via a police constable to his chief. The way the romantic sequences are narrated (with Asin) and the picturisation of songs are applaudable. The flash-back episode with Kishore as the rekhla specialist was a cracker of a sequence. The comedy track with the mobile conversations on the rooftops and treetops are interspersed well through the script.

The focal selling point of the movie, in my opinion, is the exquisite "anthropological detailing" that has been interwoven throughout the movie. Various social and cultural aspects of the community life are brought on screen in a vivid manner. Efforts worth a documentary on the ethnography of the community has gone in and the movie was an interesting ride on this aspect. The names of the lineages, thiruvizha sequences, arrack & pork, the aloe dagger, varieties of "Silambam" offer some examples of the details depicted. One another movie which can be discussed here with respect to the "detailing" part (only) is Selvaraghavan's "Pudhupettai". "Pudhupettai" presented various first-on-screen details on the life in the Chennai underworld and the ascendancy in the political stature of the Mafioso.

One concern which may require a consideration is - the celebration of Casteism and violence seen extensively in our movies these days. In a modern day context where we are discussing whether or not to include "Caste" in the Census, movies featuring explicit names of the castes and communities may collaterally create a "halo" around it, glamorising the whole idea. I can certainly remember the impact that the titles of the movies like "Chinna Gounder", "Devar Magan" etc had in me and my friends during the school days. So, it (caste politics in cinema) actually matters !. Ofcourse, cinema mirrors the society (in a way) and casteism is something so deep-rooted that cinema can't quite manage to keep it off-topic. And, the movie certainly underscores the folklore surrounding the bravery of the Devars and Maravars, connoting a profound charm around the physical chivalry which carry little or no significance in a post-feudalistic society.

Speaking about the performances - the debutant Arulnidhi, if not way too impressive, will certainly pass the ordeal. Sunaina, the village belle looks in perfect sync with the character. The characterization has been impressive with all the gallantry it is coded with. I somehow couldn't conform with all those roles of an urban-modern chic which she had donned in her previous movies and this role looks tailor-made for her. Jayaprakash and Kishore are shaping up well as the next-gen character artistes (with men like Nasser & Radharavi in the twilight of their careers) - stellar performances from both of them. Ganja Karuppu and Anupama Kumar were also impressive.

The music was by the debutant Taj Noor. Two songs "Maruthani Poova" and "En Nenje" were impressive for me. The cinematography and editing departments were also handled by debutants, Mahesh and Yogabhaskar respectively - Inspiring effort from both of them especially the editing with the "thiruvizha" sequence deserves a special appreciation.

Dialogues - not too much effort has gone in presenting the dialect of the region ... The leads were both Botany graduates and that explains it though. The celebration of agriculture as a profession was stressed at more instances than one and kudos for that.

One criticism that has to be lodged with Pandiraj's scripts is that they tend to become so much "cinematic-n-filmy" towards the end. The entire hospital hoopla of "Pasanga" and the one on one duel here at "Vamsam" both share this very weakness. With all the novelty in storytelling he tries to employ throughout the movie, the build-up towards the climax loses the punch and becomes way too predictable. Pandiraj somehow yields to the sacred rules of "masala cinema" that prevail, as the film draws a close.

In an industry where one-film-wonders are not scarce, there will always be a considerable "pressure-to-perform" irk on a director (unless your dad is a producer). On those lines, Pandiraj has definitely lived up to the expectations, displaying a genuine ability in filmmaking with his latest offering.

Vetty Post #1

2010-08-04T07:35:00.000-07:00

Free Free Free !!!

I found myself engulfed with a "WTF" question mark as I bought this week's issue of the tamil magazine "Anantha Vikatan". Well, the reason is there for yourself.

The caption stated thus, "இந்த இதழுடன் ஸ்டேப்ரீ செக்யூர் அல்ட்ரா தின் கேட்டு வாங்குங்கள்".

A mainstream magazine that is typically targeting people of all age groups of both the sexes, offers a freebie (i.e) Sanitary pad.

Have they gone insane ? Had this been a women's magazine like "Aval Vikatan" or "Mangayar Malar" or "Penmani", I can understand the intent. While I am not trying to bring in here any sexist or gender connotations (with respect to the popular culture), I am trying to understand the very "purpose" of the product offered for "free". Has Vikatan received any statistical information that the "only" subscribers of their magazine are women of the age-group 15 to 45 ?

##########

Got to view Anand Patwardhan's riveting documentary "Prisoners of Conscience", which features interview footage with some of the "Political prisoners" who were imprisoned during India's Emergency (1975 to 1977). The visual imagery and the credibility it offers (for only 41 minutes though) is definitely no match to volumes and volumes of print literature that may exist.

You actually find it difficult to understand and accept the facts that are presented - the kind of gross disenfranchisement of civil rights, the devoidness of social justice, political and social unrest, arrest without trials, MISA, "Tortures" in the prison etc.

Is this India ?, Is this the country which is hailed the Greatest democracy ?.

While the cinema and press of the period have remained largely "silent" (Or they were silenced ?), the original archival footage this documentary offers will stand as an important political record of a traumatic period in India's history. While the film has limited it's scope largely by just presenting a series of edited montages featuring interviews with the "victims", it has an interview with Jayaprakash Narayan and hence for me, is worth the time and effort. That said, the presentation of the documentary is neither lucid nor cogent and will not serve somebody to actually understand the whole mess (i.e) India during Emergency.

A tiny photo essay with the screenshots from the documentary.

Indira Gandhi, the Ironhand

JP.Narayan, the firebrand

As long as there are "Prisoners of Conscience" or the "Political prisoners" in jail, the expectations from the Janata party haven't been fulfilled and I think there should be a continuous pressure on the Janata party government .. Also, I believe the time might come when some kind of a mass movement (of the people) might become neccessary ... the public opinion, young people, Sarvodaya movement, the press - all these should help in this process.

- Jayaprakash Narayan (in 1978)

Vintage Madras

2010-07-10T13:15:00.000-07:00

Madharasapattinam – Review

Period films are not a usual fare in the Tamil milieu. If we can survey the entire annals of our cinema, we would most likely end up with less than 20 pieces. History as history films like "Siraichaalai" and "Iruvar", Biopics like "Periyar", "Bharathi" and "Kamaraj", Period fictions like "Hey Ram" and “Kanchivaram” are some of the "serious" period flicks that we had. Films like "Vaaranam Aayiram" and "Subramaniapuram" used the period settings only as a part of their narrative veins. And, (with no disrespect to the film, per se) “Subramaniapuram” only required 80s Ilayaraja songs on loud speakers and the cinema wall posters of "Kaali" and "Murattu Kaalai", to evoke a period sense. The most recent of the list, Cheran's "Pokkisham" (2009) is a very important work from Madharasapattinam's point- of-view, because it shares a lot of similarities (in terms of the plot) with "Pokkisham".

Genre - This is not a "patriotic" film that is going to preach you those "truisms of Nationalism" and offer those goosebump moments. This is romance and romance only set in a different period, as India was getting ready for her "tryst with destiny". Even as the whole country was devotionally chanting "Vande Maataram" and "Bharat mata ki jai" on the night of 14th August - 1947, the protagonist is actually running for his love & life and for that of his ladylove.

The storyline - is not blasphemically novel. A Brit lady (daughter of the governor) falls in love with a tamil washerman, as she visits the pre-independent India (Madharas). All those obstacles and impediments for her love from her cruel and un-understanding parents - 100% present, her engagement with a Brit Nobleman - No doubts, In place. Secret meetings and troubles with communication - naturally present. Inspite of so much cliches, the movie definitely appeals and engages you. And, like “Titanic” - the movie opens on the present-day life of a british old lady and narrates into a flash back from her Point-of-view.

The seamless narrative structure is something I liked so much. Its definitely not a "love-at-first-sight" between Parithi (Arya) and Amy (Amy Jackson) - the first half of the movie was so loooong even for the Indian cinema standards, almost 100 minutes. Ample time and a good number of scenes were spent to register that they were in love. The second half features an interesting and racy chase sequence, as Parithi and Amy elope to escape from a whole police battalion - very professionally done. Parithi is also a "Kusthi" expert and there's a particular scene featuring a "one-on-one" combat with a English police officer. It is definitely a scene (or the only scene) that very well feeds our Anti-British instincts.

Cast - Arya is the post-"Naan Kadavul" fella who does act. I always have some problems with his tamil deliverance (but, let it be with me only) and it was more a "measured" performance - Not great. Amy Jackson is beautiful and immaculate, personifies innocence. wow, what a graceful screen presence she holds ! .. Special note - for the "Aaruyire" song, she does some amazing lip-syncs with the lyrics. The support cast is again amazing - hosts a good variety of characters. The "Kusthi" teacher (Nasser) and "school" teacher, Parithi's friend-faction, his sister, the English officials - all deliver. Nasser (Is there a character on the planet that he can't do) and Cochin Hanefa (who died as the movie was being shot) deserve a special mention.

Period - The film is set to happen at Chennai of the yesteryears, circa 1945 to 1947. The Art director should be very thankful to the film's producer who should be gracious enough in sanctioning all the finance, that Madharas in all its ancient pristine glory is brought live on screen. The Tram vehicles, coovam (the actual clean canal in which boating was possible then), the washermen "thurai", vintage cars and guns, policemen's uniforms etc - the period props were all in place. Even "Sudhesa Mithran" newspaper carrying the news of India's independence was used.

The conversations were written in a way that encompasses the spirit and culture of the period. Japan's bombing of Madras (1942) and Netaji's death in a plane crash etc, are covered across everyday colloquial conversations of the people. One thing that kept me thinking was the absence of the "Dravida naadu demand" during the period, by the Dravidian politicians Periyar and C.N.Annadurai in the movie. While I completely admit that it will have no room in the script, I just wanted to register my preoccupation with these ideas, at the cinema hall.

Vijay, the director - proves that he's got some "serious" talent - after "remaking" the scripts (that should have been "alien" to him) two times before, he comes up with his "original" work and does it laudably. While at the cinema hall, you can't really avert your mind lingering back to tested blockbusters like "Titanic" and "Lagaan", yeah - "Pokkisham" also. But, the good part is that, it doesn't last long. I was actually happy in attributing this "reminiscence" to the commercial popularity of the above ventures and would like to grant the whole credit to Vijay. With the kind of professionalism portrayed by him with respect to the "handling" of the script, you can actually say, Vijay should have consciously tried (with his film making) manipulating the audience that he is really not inspired by the above films.

G.V.Prakash Kumar matures as a composer. His BGM and scores for the songs were definitely admirable. Nirav Shah is awesome yet again – captures the period with “that” special eye. Indian Cinema will always be oozing with master cinematographers !

The film is not completely devoid of flaws - there are a good number of stereotypes in characterization, coupled with hackeneyed & predictable scenes. Computer Graphics (CG) used in certain places expose themselves that they are not "real" and are "engineered" by Graphics professionals. The period props falter at certain junctures such as, the "fresh" black and white paintings on the platforms and zebra crossings. Add to them, Arya can't speak good tamil but thankfully there's no lengthier chunks of dialogues that he has to recite. But, you only wish to forgive them all and admire all the hard work that has gone into the conceptualization and production. Must watch !

Mani Ratnam and his Raavanan (2010)

2010-06-23T03:42:00.000-07:00

When Mani Ratnam makes a new movie and you don't like it, there are various layers of practical constraints in voicing out your honest concerns on the movie. Mani, being the favourite film-maker of this generation's audience (including me), in the limits of tamil cinema, you will be literally swarmed with his aficionados ridiculing you and your taste for cinema. Well, "No artiste stands above the artistry itself" and hence "Raavanan" is a bad piece of cinema, exhibiting (only) the technical expertise towards cinematography and art direction, while showcasing some stunning & exotic locales. You easily find them all in the movie, Santosh Sivan - the ace cinematographer from FTII - Pune, A.R.Rahman - the master musician and Samir Chanda - the art director but Mani Ratnam - the filmmaker and his stamp is an abysmal miss in his latest offering. And, yeah - Vikram can act and Aishwarya Rai Bachhan is stunning.

That tamil cinema churns out loads of trash through out the year and the scenario being truly devoid of inspiring film-makers, the onus naturally falls on the seasoned campaigners like Mani Ratnam or Bala in tossing up quality entertainment to an audience which literally craves in look towards good cinema. The expectations hit sky-high and alas, sometimes the film fails to strike a chord in the audience. For almost three decades now, Mani Ratnam, though not exactly a commercially viable filmmaker (his last big box-office success was "Alaipaayuthe" and before that it is "Roja"), has always delivered some quality stock that invariably offered enough fodder for the ruminations of a urban cinema audience and the film intelligentsia.

Into Raavanan now. The characterisation of Veeraiya should be one of the famous character assassinations seen in the recent times, that concerns me - more than all other possible insights that "Raavanan" offers.

Veeraiya (Vikram) sings in the songs,

"En Porappa Nee Kanda
En Paathai Nee Kadantha
En Yutham Nee Senja
Nee Raamandaen Raavanandaen" and

"Kodu Poata.. Konnu Podu..
Vaeli Poata.. Hey Vetti Podu..
Nethuvaraikum Unga Sattam Innaikirunthu Enga Sattam"

Sending across clear cues of the issues of Malaivaashis/Aadivaashis/tribal people, the lyrics are in turn suggestive of the Naxalite insurgency. That, Veeraiya is an outlaw and anti-state (as his men set fire the policemen alive) is only concretising this undertone. But, like all his previous attempts (with political contexts), Mani just touches and goes this political issue, jeopardising the mammoth potential the topic offers and exposing his superficial understanding of the Naxal politics. Mani has never exhibited any kind of satirical take on any issue he picks up and his political orientations are always well with in the lines of a Moral Science/Civics textbook. His movies, thus tone a presumptuous image and hence become outlandishly pretentious.

Who the people are, what their problems are, How they have been kept under a blanket of institutionalised backwardness for generations, what do they struggle for, what is the source of their hatred towards the state/police - Never touch these things and Suhasini anyways effortlessly condenses them all in one/two short monologue exchanges. Nothing but poor conception and poor execution. Over simplification of the actual issue to shy away the controversies works a bane for the movie. Centuries-long life of the tribes in the mountains, the mountains and the associated mineral wealth becoming a part of the Indian nation as India became a republic (refer "Kodu potta" song), Mineral ore mining, shackles of capitalism - Every damn thing is skimmed over and the closest idea that ever gets discussed in the movie is when Veeraiya calls himself "Odukkappattavan" differentiating himself with the privileged "Mettukkudi". I sincerely recommend some Arundhati Roy writings to Mr and Mrs. Mani Ratnam.

And, attributing Veeraiah's antagonism towards Dev (Police officer played by Prithiviraj) "only" to the rape/death of his sister, should be the worst possible scheme that not only liquidates Veera's character but also alienates us all from the actual issue (the socio-political issues of the tribes).

"பல தலைமுறைகளாக ஒடுக்கப்பட்டமை, உரிமைகள் மறுக்கப்பட்டமை, மலைவாழ் மக்களுக்கான வாழ்வியல் ஆதாரங்களை அரசு கையகப்படுத்தியமை, சமூகத்தில் பிற்படுத்தப்படமை முதலிய சமூகக்கூறுகளை விடுத்து - தங்கையின் மீதான வன்புணர்ச்சி மற்றும் அவளுடைய மரணம் மட்டுமே வீரய்யனின் கோபம் மற்றும் போராட்டத்திற்கான காரணங்களாக காட்சிப்படுத்தப்பட்டிருக்கின்றது. ஒரு இனத்தின் போராட்டமாக, ஒரு வர்க்கத்தின் போராட்டமாக முன்னிறுத்தப்படவேண்டிய சமூக அவலம், தனிமனிதக்காழ்ப்புணர்ச்சியின் வெளிப்பாடாக சித்தரிக்கப்பட்டிருக்கின்றது, சிதறடிக்கப்பட்டிருக்கின்றது"

This only reminds us of the character of the terrorist (Liaquat) played by Pankaj Kapoor in "Roja". Liaquat, with all the builds of his character, finally renounces everything he can - his theological beliefs, jihadi basis and the ideology of his group - to figuratively surrender himself to the Indian Nationalism (to Rishi played by Arvindsaamy). All these inconsistencies and incoherences stem up because of Mani's attempts to oversimplify his narrative seam, presenting dishonest portrayals.

Much has been said and discussed in relation to the performances of the lead actors. That Vikram does all possible hard work (Be it Pithamagan / Kandasaamy) to present a character in a memorable fashion is well known. Astounding performance - his beasty looks and "dandandanaaanadan" cohere well. Aishwarya Rai, with all her bollywood assignments should have, by now, forgot "acting" ... she shouts her dialogues aloud and tries to pose a "Bharathiyaar's pethi", whenever and wherever she is supposed to be bold and brave. Her assignment is quite simple in a way, that she wields only two emotions in the whole of the movie - plain face (pensiveness and the love for Veera, sometimes) and the angry face (Bharathiyaar's lineage portions). A third variant could possibly be, plain face + glycerine. Prithviraj is an adoringly smart and cunning policeman. Prabhu and Karthik (carries all possible symbolisms for being the "Hanuman", except the tail) are talented and director-friendly character actors.

Dialogues - Suhasini has put herself in the context and penned down the dialogues. Her "Brahmin" lingo coupled with post-fixes like "la" is not providing a feel for authentic nativity of the tribals. Though Ragini (Aishwarya) is a suave, educated and brave lady - she will certainly not question - "Enna kolla unakku enna urimai irukku?" (what rights you own in killing me ?), when she is freaking kidnapped and gagged. Dissonance all the way and more research on the dialect would have sharpened the dialogues.

Locations - Mani, sure has unearthed some of the fascinating locales and has picturised them all in an awesome fashion. But, still the inconsistency looms large actually - the actual living place of the tribals, the place where Vennila (Priyamani) is getting married, the marriage ceremony and the kind of culture portrayed in the wedding - the coherence is lost.

The first five minutes of the movie will form a part of the lecture on "How not to edit a movie ?" - I don't know what kind of "non-linearity in narration", Mani wishes to achieve here.

Veeraiah getting ready for a dive - somebody creating a blockade for the police van - policemen beat somebody in the police station - Veeraiah pokes a stone into the falls, with his leg - a village festival - Veeraiyah's dive - policemen following a chic - sabotage of a police van - Veeraiah with the "parai" (percussion instrument) - Ragini on a boat

Yeah, we are not comfortable with fights and mass-opening songs for the hero - but still, what the above sequence intends to achieve is to simultaneously let us all know that Veeraiah and his men are anti-social, anti-state, cunning, powerful etc. And, the sequence with all its discontinuities in editing and poor placement of the montages, is quite amateurish. The movie is actually devoid of that "seamless" flow and technical finesse, trademark of Mani's films.

Rahman's score for the songs doesn't quite coalesce with the kind of culture (that of the tribals) depicted on-screen. That magical sync between the picturisation of a song and the musical score, is somehow missing. Santosh Sivan and Manikandan transcend you into a whole new site and it drizzles pleasant in the cinema hall.

On a final note, the film definitely keeps you engaged (during the first viewing, atleast) with all its technical grandeur and hence an aesthetical superiority is assured but it doesn't seem to work beyond this layer. The film, like some of his earlier political cinema, certainly lacks them all - an academician's depth in the study of an issue, a documentary maker's "detailing" in the presentation of a problem and a humanitarian's understanding of the issue. It just hangs as a vestigial piece of graphical images, mocking a sect of the society, still active on the fight for their survival.

Singam - Review

2010-05-30T01:30:00.000-07:00

Spoiler-alert !!!

Lets get the governing dynamics clear -

Saamy + Vettaikkaran = Singam --> Equation 1

If all the Vijay films are turning out to be colossal disasters under the pretext of "No novelty in the storyline and performances", then why pick Vettaikkaran in the above equation ?. Because, it is the most recent Sun Pictures - Vijay combo, I watched on screens.

One can actually enter a bet to find six differences between "Vettaikkaran" and "Singam" - and can come up with points like, Aspiring police officer - Established police officer, the anti-social activity committed by the villains of the scripts etc. Anushka and Sun Pictures will contribute to the similarities list.

Well, the substantiation for Equation 1 needs to be presented.

Now, have a look at the following template (for the first half of the movie only) and just match with how many ever movies you want. Saamy, Arul, Vettaikaran, Singam are some notorious titles which will readily sit-into it with some minor tweaks.

- Villain's introduction - during and before title cards

- Hero's introduction - Fight and opening song compulsory

- Comedian's introduction (Association of the comedian with either the hero or the heroine)

- Heroine's introduction (naughty, sportive, beauty)

- Villain's family (the whole TN will know how bad the villain is, but the villain's wife is still not aware of it - the only job she seems to have is to serve breakfast for him)

- Comedy scene 1

- Heroine's family (the heroine is the darling of the 10-odd people in her family, she is offered all freedom but to choose her guy)

- The villain is a bad guy - Instance 1 (committing some horrendous murders)

- Hero's family (one more serial-family - this is optional)

- The hero is an epitome of goodness - Instance 1

- Villain's younger brother is a cheap rogue - womaniser, most of the times (turned on by the worker-maid or some shopping mall chic)

- Hero-heroine look at each other, sometime some place (But, the heroine still haven't reserved some real-estate in her heart for him)

- Comedy Scene 2

- The villain is a bad guy - Instance 2 (So many crimes in the Indian penal code - Pick one here)

- Hero catches a sight of the above (Trembling shoulders and boiling blood, he is not involving himself into the mess and stays away as he is not directly impacted by the "The villain is a bad guy - Instance 2" )

- Villain's younger brother commits a heinous crime (related to his innate womaniser instinct or some acts of rowdism)

- The hero unknowingly bumps into the Villain's brother and thrashes him (and 20-odd "office room boys") aside.

- Heroine, fortunately gets a glimpse of the above - fall in love

- Duet 1 in foreign locales.

- Hero - villain main encounter - No punch dialogues here. The hero shows his intentions to shy-away from the mess but the villain is not letting him to do so.

- Comedy Scene 3

- Romance followed by Duet 2

- Hero-Villain Head-on collision followed by the challenge - Punch dialogue guaranteed.

- Freeze the frame as the hero concluded the punch - Spin the letters of I-N-T-E-R-M-I-S-S-I-O-N and deposit it on screen.

Hari - what more can be expected of the Master-Masala-Maker who invariably - will pick up a town/city, have a powerful villain dictating the story, eyecandy heroine reserved for the duets and a mean "meanwhile" style screenplay interspersed with comedy pieces. Hari has started maintaining a police-template also, I believe and "Singam" is the latest output of the template. Dialogues - "I ll make you run out of Tamilnadu", "Chivalry, courage, intelligence of the Tamilnadu Police" - Yappa !!! Enough of it man ... starting from Sethupathi IPS, many police officers have uttered these stuff out.

What is this "meanwhile" stuff, anyways ? - Pick the first 40 minutes of any masala movie - the hero, villain, heroine and comedian will be doing things on their own with zero correlation coefficient. The villain is doing some anti-social activity - "meanwhile" the heroine is playing around merrily in her home - "meanwhile" the hero is doing some good deed to the society - "meanwhile" the buffoon is doing something somewhere. Scenes follow one by one, like the above ... Don't dare to call this "screenplay" ever. Kamal Haasan, who has been conducting screenplay workshops should do one for these guys and inculcate some sense of screen writing in them.

When the first half was shot, well in lines with the above template, "Saamy" came to the rescue in the second half, in terms of screenplay. The hero - Romancing while in duty at check-posts, leading the ruffians to a lonely place to clobber them, losing some of his kins in the last 20 minutes, smartly follows the villain as he escapes to Andhra, delivers the final monologue message to the villain - are you not reminded of "Saamy" ?.

Surya - His 25th film this is. While I am very much happy with his resume thus far (starting out as a shy-ridden, seemingly resourceless and a naive youngster in "Nerukku Ner", whose only credential then was that - he was the son of the veteran actor Sivakumar), I am not full-of-praise for his 25th film. But, there were enough films in his kitty which will speak of his value as a performer to the present day tamil cinema. With his penchant for performances and an undeniable panache, Surya seems to be the only actor whom you can bank upon in look for good cinema. Way to go Surya and if he is inclined more to be a "hero" like his contemporaries (like in "Singam"), he is disappointing many in our camp.

Coming to Surya's performance in "Singam" - He just exhibits an animated, arrogant, powerful, adrenalin-ridden police officer, pulverising the jumbo-looking "office room boys" (like "Vettaikkaran" Vijay) in a few strokes. While speaking to his adversaries, Surya stands with his legs-apart ("stable equilibrium", probably) and shouts-aloud the dialogues (a bit irritating and monotonous mannerism, it becomes). He is soft-spoken only to Anushka and his family-people. There's a remarkable improvement in his dancing abilities as well, no doubts. The fight sequences should be loads-of-work for the film editor - so many shots - Juggernaut-like Surya thrashing the baddies, exploding tata-sumos, flying rowdies, slashing glass pieces - so much to cover and add to that a racy speed with which the sequence is enacted.

Though one can be easily critical of Surya's performance in the movie, owing only to the monotone of a masala movie, you can only admire his crackerly-attitude in whatever he does on screen. His body language evokes an unconditional strictness (of a police officer) through-out and his fit 'n' trim physique add a special punch for the role, he enacts. Now, on a comparative note, there is a substantial difference in characterisations, displayed by Anbuchelvan (Kaakha Kaakha) and Durai Singam (Singam). The former sounds more driven by intuitions & smartness and the latter by emotions & raw physical abilities (of course, there is a lot of cognitive smartness as a police officer, exhibited by Durai Singam also). Nevertheless, Anbuchelvan is a calm-n-composed urbane police officer whereas Durai Singam articulates pages of punches in high pitches. Gautham Menon and Hari !!!

Anushka Shetty - Has she got some meat in the script to chew upon ?

- This is a masala/mass/entertainer

- This is a hero-centric Hari film

- This is from Sun Pictures

She is reserved for songs, precisely. Especially, in the second half, where the hero's itinerary is really filled up with appointments-with-villains, Anushka should have tried keeping herself busy with her dance master and the wardrobe-expert for the upcoming duet sequences (Hari has already sent her lines in several SMSes). Her cleavage-friendly attires in the songs successfully received many a "oohs" and claps from the audience. And yeah, she is tall and gorgeous.

And, I wanted to mention this - There's this atrocious sequence which would lead Surya (Durai Sngam) to nick-name the heroine "Puli" in line with "Singam", which Hari also uses to get them introduced to each other - absolute lack of creativity, I felt.

Prakash Raj - looks aged - made up for the role, probably. Nothing special here - he has tossed up tons of performances like this, on us. For the umpteenth time, he is the Big Dada of the city with the police and politicians under his belt - owns many Tata sumos and elephantine "office room" boys. Loses out finally to Durai Singam, the untouchable tough cop.

Support Cast - It looks like, there has been an ordinance in effect at the Tamilnadu Film Artistes Association that atleast two from the following set {Vijaya Kumar, Radha Ravi, Manorama, Nizhalgal Ravi, Nasser}, should be a part of the support cast in any big budget production. Hari, so graciously includes the entire band here. No offence meant on the extremely talented artistes above, but we have got so much used to these guys' body language, dialogue delivery and mode of emotions that nothing new is in store for us. Support cast, on the other hand, is only horribly typecasted, thus trashing the real "potential" in these wonderful actors. They, like countless other occasions, deliver a cliched but balanced performance. we should feel sorry for talented thespians like Nasser, Girish Karnad who were always picked for petty malefactor roles. On a welcome note, our cinema these days, is actually getting progressive in sorting out the support artistes from the "society".

Vivek - should consult a good doctor - His "Mokkais" are turning pathetic. The concept of "Sirippu Police" has been tested by time but the comedy track just sucks here. Same old "Injury between legs" man !! ... When Murali and Vadivelu pole-vaulted and Vadivelu hurt his "%^&*" (for the first time, I believe), it was moderately funny with his facial expressions. Enough of it, Vivek tries to sound funny calling it by different names - Mani, Sombu, bulb - Not funny any more.

Songs were actually a let down. But, Sun pictures can make Dindukkal Sarathy's songs popular. Sun Music will take care of the rest. This has been in light for some time now - tamil pronunciations by North Indian singers - Shaan sings "Oru Vaarthai MoLiyaale" - Unbearable. "En Idhayam" was shot well in some ravishing foreign locales. And, according to Sun pictures rules, there was a real kuthu number 20 minutes before the close of the movie - Surya did a almost-Vijay here, dancing really well.

I have this feeling that we turn a bit hypocritical when it comes to Surya and very much hypercritical to Vijay. Of course, Surya has proved his capability as a performer many a times before while the latter has never done so. Surya should, in future, choose his scripts judiciously to not to fall into "that" category.

Singam - Tamed circus lion performing routine stuff.

Nostalghia - School Annual day Memoirs

2010-03-27T05:05:00.000-07:00

This post is an explicit compilation of those memories which I have been incubating in my brain cells over a long period of time. Since the events and insights, I am bringing about are very much with reference to my school and it's culture, I don't know if everybody were able to identify themselves with this post. The names and events described are not fictitious and are absolutely true. I have tried to be utmostly honest about things and what I felt about them, then and now. I made it a point not to discuss this with people and recall stuff. I stole things only from my own memory and again, this is to provide this post, the much required authenticity. This looong post (the lengthiest I have ever written) is more like a diary for me to tackle my fading memory.

After the winter holidays are over, you enter the school in the first week of January. January is the absolute dream month for any school kid, I believe. It already opens up after the half-yearly vacation, you attend school for around 1 to 2 weeks and you get a mini vacation of atleast 4 days for Pongal, then republic day holiday follows etc. You hardly attend 17-18 days of school in Jan. And, Every year, amidst this happy atmosphere, begins the annual day (or the school day) frenzy and euphoria. School day will usually be held in the third week of Feb in our school and the training sessions for the culturals (drama and dance events) will begin as early in January. Classes used to be half empty as people would be busy with practice & rehearsals and this is the absolute timepass season of any academic year, that you can dream of.

There were these two Aasthana heroes of my school's drama scenario, whom I can never forget - Vij and ArKu. Vij was that "typical" Shakespearean thespian of our stage-play arena. The school had this tradition of staging one of Shakespeare's plays every year and as long as Vij was there, he was the hero. I don't know when he started out at the stage but by the time I started consciously following the plays, he always held the title roles. The play will change every year - King Lear, Macbeth, Hamlet, Othello, The Tempest etc but the role of the protagonist was customarily reserved for him.

Most of Vij's performances were staged when I was in the high school and I was never sophisticated in understanding and admiring the dialogues and performances in English plays. Like the male protagonist, there will again be a regular cast to fill in the roles of Ophelias and Desdemonas. You get to see these faces regularly again and again, year after year. Shakespearean plays, naturally oozing with intriguing romance would be let through a thorough censor-filter and "Love" would be one aspect that will be safely dismantled from the plays (for obvious reasons). But, the conduct of the Shakespeare's plays every year was really awesome that those "lengthy" plays with all those sonnets and soliloquies would be prosi-fied and brought down to 10 to 15 minutes. But, I can't recall if the actual integrity of the play was preserved in the process of shorting them down. English plays though looked rich and stylish never attracted a substantial section of the audience.

One more insight which I developed is, among the Shakespeare's plays, mostly tragedies were enacted and "Celebration of masculine valour" was the focal point in the enaction. Other aspects of Shakespearean theatre like Comedy and Romance were not touched upon, I believe. The female characters of the plays were literally dummified as you remove the romance flavour out from the plays, keeping in mind the "dignity" and "sanctity" of a high school drama stage. And, plays with female-centric themes were never staged, as far as I remember (Shakespeare's Cleopatra, for example).

ArKu was someone who did an awesome work with the tamil plays. He played a variety of roles from mythologicals to epics to social themes. I have seen him from close-proximity and I can call him "the actor", I saw in my school. He had a good tamil accent and clear pronunciations and I can recall more than one instance where he used to suggest new and better ways of presenting a dialogue, to the teacher. He had a fierce and majestic dialogue delivery when he played the king Ashoka and also excelled with comical timing when he played Tenalirama in one of the plays. I have acted with him in two or three plays.

I had been on stage as a drama artiste for five continuous years, from Class 5 to 9. I can successfully recollect my tamil teachers Seetha miss and Kalaichelvi miss, who hand-picked me for a tamil drama when I was in Class 5. For me, performing on stage those days always meant loud and bold deliverance of lines with the waver of arms. That's it ... I still remember some of the comments I received during rehearsals like, "He doesn't need a mike at all". But, during my 9th Class, I did the role of Laertes in Shakespeare's Hamlet, and my English teacher Loganathan wanted me to largely underplay that role. Remember, for me "Playing" means delivering lines aloud (I was regularly with tamil drama troops before and tamil plays required a loud deliverance with right intonations and punctuations stuff). I remember, I found it difficult to keep my volume down and actually speak soft. He used to instruct me frequently, "Mike irukkunda ... en ipdi kathare" ... "gentle aa pesu paakkalam" (Which means "You'll have a mike dude, why do you shout like this ? Can you speak gentle ?).

After all, You can't expect "method acting" from a school kid right ??. I still believe the criteria that would be looked upon a sixth class kid to actually appear on-stage would be, stage courageousness, a good memory to deliver the lines by-heart and a not-so-funny voice to identify and sync with the character you play. Memorising the dialogues by-heart was something, I was naturally interested in, those days. I used to take a special interest in memorising the entire script of the play and whenever somebody is absent for the day, I used to double-play his role also, along with mine, during the training sessions. I remember, I used to enact the entire play to my mom at home, playing all the characters.

The drama training sessions will impart the necessary stage aesthetics like, Don't show-off your back as you perform on the stage, approximate positions of the mikes (there used to be three mikes and you need to walk into the mike and speak, for you to be heard), you shouldn't walk on stage like you are in explicit pursuit of the mike, Coping up with the wardrobe malfunctions (like the breakage of cardboard swords etc). You get to learn a lot many nuances of the art during those sessions, I remember.

The annual day function will start with speeches and prize distributions followed by culturals. They used to be held in the evening and we used to spend the morning in preparation of the props with cardboad and golden-paper stuff. One important thing, I liked with the stage performances is the "Arithaaram" (in tamil), which would be applied on your face before you are made up for the role. There used to be a single sponge which the make-up man will use to apply this stuff (Arithaaram) on the faces of so many people. The sponge used to stink bad but getting yourself made up for that role is always a special feeling (you literally are a different entity & character, now). I had a special liking for this, I remember.

Tamil plays were always the center of audience's applause and appreciation (because they are the ones which will be actually understood by everybody out there) and hence they would invariably be pushed back to the final stages of the school day culturals, to keep the crowd in. So, I always had an opportunity to witness everything going on, from the backstage. Goof-ups, teacher providing the dialogue-leads if somebody forgets his lines, scoldings between the scenes, the busy-ness of the props-setting-people between the scenes, musicians playing the BGM tunes for the drama etc - I've had a first hand experience.

Apart from the dramas, the culturals would feature a good number of dance performances - again there were regular entries - Though I remember a lot of names, I skip them here so as to preserve their identities. Songs for the dance events were chosen with utmost care, such that they don't feature any controversial terms (you got it right ??). If there's one, they used to switch to a hindi version of the song, if available or even chop-off that particular line from the song. Apart from that, we used to have a few hindi songs for dance events. For example, when "Mehndi Laga Ke Rakhna" from DDLJ (which literally translated to "Put your henna on and keep the wedding palanquin decorated beautiful girl, your beloved will come to take you away ...") was staged, nobody had a problem, because the song was in hindi and nobody can decipher the sense, the song made.

Some of the famous dance numbers which I can recall are ARR's Vandemataram, Alisha's Made in India, Cheranenna Chozhanenna, Nooraandu kaalam vaazhga, Margazhi thingalallava, Poo pookum osai, Pulveli pulveli etc. The dance performances were mostly by girls and there were boy-girl mixed dance sequences with atleast five feet distance between each of them. During the Annual day seasons, some songs would be universally popular that they will find an entry into the school day culturals of almost all the schools during that year. Made in India, Vandemataram by ARR are classic examples of this particular aspect. I was never interested in dances during my school days, though I believed and still believe that, dancing was always tougher than playing a character in plays.

Kids' rhymes dance sequences would be awesomely cute and equally funny. When there are 10 to 15 kids (the number will always be so high so that the flaws wouldn't be apparently visible), there would be atleast 2 to 4 kids dumbstruck at the stage amused by the people in front and they will forget all the dance sequences and stand-still the whole time on the stage. Some will even start weeping. Yeah, there are instances even the kids will perform flawless - such training and rehearsals they would have gone into.

And, the best part about performing on stage is, you get some fans ... Right ?. I remember one of the conversations I had with a fifth grader (FG) after my performance in a stage play. I should be in Class 8, I believe and this was during the lunch break or something. I pretty much remember the matter and the following is somewhat fictitious.

FG: Anna ...

Me: Ennappa ...

(Someone calling you "Anna" itself is great, when you already have to call so many people "Anna", in school)

FG: Nethikku ungala paathen ...(I saw you yesterday)

Me: Apdiya pa thambi? kandupidichittiya ? (Oh dude !! glad that you identified me)

FG: Aamanna .. Sirippa irundhuchu ... (Yes Bro ... The play was comic)

You can't forget your first fan ... right ??. And, it always feels great to be a senior.

It was undoubtedly a social status kinda thing to be performing on stages in school, I believe. Layers of Condescension were apparently present. You act in a play or dance to a number on a school day culturals, you achieve some kinda Prima-donna-ish image in the class or school. Everybody likes attention and everybody seek attention - and you get attention when you are performing on stage. Attention seeking is one of those human instincts that will prominently feature somewhere in our Emotional Intelligence pyramid.There are a lot of sociological and psychological aspects to be looked upon here. Thinking over this aspect, will present a lot of insights about how one's personality and social outlook has been shaped and sculpted during the formative years at school.

If somebody has really come this far, reading all the above, I appreciate your patience and indulgence into this. Hope you liked this.

Angadi Theru - Review

2010-03-27T00:00:00.000-07:00

Spoilers ahead !!!

Social commentaries are that breed of cinema which mirror the contemporary society and will invariably evoke a spectrum of emotions with the audience. You get a glimpse of various unseen facets of the very same society in which you live ... The social and economic strata, the struggle for the daily bread, the society's hard-heartedness towards its own subjects etc. This Vasantha Balan film is a powerful entry into this genre, which very successfully arouses this feeling of how-privileged-one-section-of-the-society-is, which I wish to establish as one of the measures to assess the films of this genre.

On a retrospective note, recently we had "Naan Kadavul" which screened us the horrendous lives of temple-side beggars and the Agoris. "Vaalmiki" was one decent attempt that tried to portray the lives of pick-pocket thieves. "Polladhavan" featured absolute detailing with respect to the underworld of the bike pickers. Madhur Bhandarkar's Bollywood attempts, though they always gave a glamourised account, are worthy of a mention here. I just remembered a relatively unknown tamil film, Prathap Pothen's "Meendum Oru Kathal Kathai" which was well ahead of its times in its honest picturisation of a mental asylum. "Angadi Theru" just stands tall as a social black-commentary with no commercial concessions. The film picturises the lives of the sales-guys & gals in one of the many all-in-one shopping kiosks at T.Nagar's Ranganathan street. The film neither glamourises their lives nor is exploitative in its experiment.

The film's main plot - sales-guys & gals in a Saravana stores-like shopping complex, the places they live and dine, the relationships they share amongst each other, their supervisor, the proprietor of the store etc.The lives of these sales personnel are shrewdly oriented towards only one goal - work and work only, for fifteen hours a day. In the process, they are forced to lose their self-esteem and are ill-treated like bond-slaves. The supervisors even barge-in on their personal spaces and try to chop-off their love interests. The film employs various other sub-plots depicting the street-side platform businesses. In short, it brings up the T.Nagar's commercial street live and buzzing.

The movie's technical brilliance is something which you will never be able to appreciate at the first viewing. The film has such an engaging screenplay, that you aren't allowed to digress away from the story. You can't notice any flaws with the cinematography, editing or the Music as you will be very busy following the details depicted on the screen and a triggered-screenplay. The scenes are impact oriented and consequential - You are simply occupied with the emotions that engulf you with every scene that is exhibited. Jeyamohan's dialogues are spiky and they deserve a special appreciation.

The film's protagonist Mahesh wields a blank face through-out and is not so efficient in communicating both vehemence and excitement - gets the pass-mark as a fresher. If there has to be a find-of-the-movie, it is undoubtedly the heroine Anjali. Anjali just delivers such a matured performance in only her third movie. We saw her as Anandhi in "Katradhu Tamil" and was acclaimed the "Best Debutant of the year" in Vijay Awards that year. She is just apt as a salesgirl here and her face sharply relays the emotions what-so-ever. She looked very much subtle in her performance and scores way ahead of the glam-chics we have these days. Way to go Anjali !!!

The support cast including - the "Kana Kaanum Kalangal" guy & the bunch of sales people, A.Venkatesh as the supervisor, the platform salespeople - everybody just deliver their roles to perfection. The character of the sales supervisor Karungaali, played by A.Venkatesh needs a special mention here. He just reminded me of the role played by Thandavan in "Naan Kadavul". This character is a personification of cunningness, wickedness, villainy and rascality etc. You hate him so much big-time and thus he succeeds in his role. Casting has been awesomely good and Vasanthabalan's confidence with the first-timers pays off well. This is becoming more of a good sign with our cinema these days - The casting is mostly fresh and if the story demands a touch-of-nativity, the directors never bother to pick people from the society rather than from the industry.

Many scenes in the movie just sweep you off with an overwhelming shock value. I feel that they are not intended as cheap exploitative gimmicks to jolt your conscience and emotional setup but are genuine in portraying the sick lives of a strata in this society. You just sit there paralysed by the impact, a few scenes create in you. And, I always had this compassionate empathy towards the salespeople in garment stores ... They just go on and on showing you stuff, till you decide that you are gonna buy something. So, whenever I spend a reasonable time browsing through garments in a store, I always have this habit of picking up something, atleast to satisfy the zeal, the salesperson exhibited to me. And, here on, this empathy is gonna be on a rise.

This is Vasanthabalan's third venture after Album and Veyyil. Album was very silent and never created an impact at the box office. Veyyil, deeply autobiographical and intensely personal gave him the much needed success and went on to the Cannes Film festival (though it premiered in the non-competitive section). I always have a great deal of respect for "Personal filmmakers". Veyyil was a dark personal tragedy and we can see the remains of "Veyyil" in "Angadi Theru" too. The flashback sequence shown here is very interesting and genuine, as he deals with relationships.

Film-making, in terms of Andrei Tarkovsky is, "Juxtaposing a person with an environment that is boundless, collating him with a countless number of people passing by close to him and far away, relating a person to the whole world, that is the meaning of cinema".

This piece is brilliant ... Go watch it !!!

Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya - Review

2010-02-27T03:07:00.000-08:00

Spoilers ahead !!!

Finally, the tough-cop and the disciplined army man in Gowtham Menon are dead and comes alive in him is, himself of the yesteryears, young wannabe film director. VTV - Breezy, vibrant, youthful, colourful – So, Is VTV, just one more addition to that long list of Kollywood flicks which glamorize, idolize and epitomize the boy-girl relationship ?. Not really, though not much offering from the storyline point of view, the presentation is applause-worthy.

There is nothing much happening in the movie as such, meaning, the film is not studded with events and consequential scenes. It just strings together “n” number of meetings and colloquial exchanges between a smart lad and a charming lass. It’s just a boy-meets-girl and fall-in-love story in an urban setting with all those society-contributed hiccups for love. But, I still wonder how the movie managed to keep us all engaged, the whole time. The magic, I think, lied with the screen presence of the lead couple and the wonderful dialogues seasoned with peppy-zippy one liners. Gowtham probably picked this up from Mani Ratnam – many interesting and crispy short dialogue exchanges, successfully received many a “Wow”s from the audience. The dialogues, unlike the usual Kadhal, chedi, poo, deiveegam, divine stuff, were exploring the lust-diamensions also.

This movie is what, I would like to define a “Romantic Musical”, in the limits of Tamil Cinema. Our films generally couldn’t be brought under a single genre umbrella and they always are Action-Romance-Sentimental and blah-blah stuff. The movie is pretty one diamensional except for that tiny boxing expertise episode. I, definitely, ain’t complaining this … I, Infact, loved this aspect of the movie.

Offtrack - Silambarasan is labeled “Young Superstar” in the title credits. I don’t understand this … He was previously the “Little Superstar”, probably referring to his relative immaturity in the field (in terms of age, attitude and naivety of his activities) … Now, that he is a bit seasoned in our cinema arena, he has been promoted from “Little” to “Young”. Next in line, might be “Pubescent”, “Teenager”, “Middle aged” etc. But, where will all this end ?, as plain “Superstar” is something reserved and he can’t afford it, whatsoever.

Coming to Simbhu’s performance in the movie, Here’s a Simbhu without his finger-gimmicks and the trademark narcissistic attitude and dialogue deliverance. In the movie, (quoting one of my friends, here) his dialogue deliverance and behavior are a bit unusual that it took some time for us to actually tune into his frequency band. You befriend a new guy, you take some time in getting accustomed to him … That was exactly the glitch, I just explained. But, there after, you actually have no problems, whatsoever … Simbhu has delivered a real good performance and you gotta love it. He looks more subtle and matured, as he conveys a lot of his emotions with his facial expressions and dialogue modulation.

Trisha, as quoted in the trailer and the movie, is classy, stylish and sexy too. Dressed up in angelic chiffon sarees and salwars, she has an elegant and ravishing screen presence. There was this Lord Byron’s poem, “She walks in beauty, like the night of cloudless climes and starry skies”, Trisha just picturises this as she gracefully walks and Simbhu glancing at her in an overwhelming admiration - one of the nicely shot sequences.

Characterization of Jessie (Trisha) is what is, “the” achievement of Gowtham, as far as VTV is concerned. Millions of poets would have registered this in all their poems - “the depth of a woman’s heart” and Gowtham, very successfully brings it graphical. Confusion, obscurity of thought, explicit misunderstandings, absolute swiftness in opinion making and naivety in decision making – all complex diamensions of a lady’s mind were brought out so lucid. In my opinion, Jessie is the actual villain of this script, more than her father and brother, who understandably throw in red lights, for her love. I am not sure, if Trisha has done complete justice to this character in all her capacity, but her presence, vagueness in eyes and her empty smiles definitely communicate her confusion, effectively. Chinmayee (who dubbed for Sameera in “Vaaranam Aayiram”) dubs for Trisha in the movie. Myself, so much accustomed to this voice was actually looking for Sameera on the screen and realized it’s Chinmayee again for Trisha.

Jessie’s attitude and behavior is where, I believe, this movie holds aloft, the personal filmmaking of Gowtham Menon. You can be supremely confident that, this candourly genuine characterization of Jessie is not a result of imagination but of experience. Then, there is this Gowtham regular – “Mechanical Engineering” – given a chance, Gowtham just plugs this in every movie of his. Also, Simbhu is an aspiring filmmaker in the movie. Again, this presents a lot of scope for the director to pour in his life as a beginner in the industry and I should say, he has utilized it good. I was, somehow reminded of Balu Mahendra’s “Marupadiyum”, in which Balu brought in many of his diamensions as a filmmaker in Nizhalgal Ravi’s character. That was more intense, I should say and understandably, Balu is a more turbulent and intimately-personal filmmaker, this industry has ever seen.

The cameraman character, who is seen with Simbhu all the time, with his witty and timing deliverance of lines, provides a lot of short one-moment laughter situations.

This movie is definitely “a body without soul” without the mesmerizing BGM tracks and songs. ARRahman’s album tracks have been chartbusters, months before and the thrill actually rested in seeing them all picturised. (No Rahman track should suffer the horrendous picturisation which “Nee Marilyn Monroe” of “Azhagiya Tamil Magan” received, with Namitha shaking her booty off and made it possible). Hardly, there are moments in the movie without the BGM in the backdrop … the music just keeps you submerged in that pool of romance. My favourite track, “Mannippaya” by ARR and Shreya Ghoshal was placed at an apt juncture in the movie and as ARR with his typical intonation, vocalizes in high pitch, “Melum melum urugi urugi, Unai enni engum Idhayathai enna seiven ?” – you actually get lost somewhere (Lyrics by Thamarai).

The picturisation of the songs were good and would require subsequent viewings or TV broadcasts to actually observe and enjoy them wholly. I never remember any dark colors like red, brown or black on screen through out the course of the movie … blue and green all the way - Soft and cool mood throughout, with the camera work.

Cinematography – I don’t know if anybody else felt this problem. But, there was this large scale misuse of close-up shots, through out the movie. Right from the frame one, it has been close-ups all the way … The movie looked like 8X zoomed in, through the course. There were always beaming faces on the screen which was not so pleasant. Close-ups, one of the five Cs of Cinematography is a very powerful technique and storytelling device that actually transcends the viewer into the actual mood of the protagonist, chopping-off the unessential props around, for that particular shot. But, terribly overused and misused, close-ups lose their potential and becomes more of a routine endeavor in this movie.

Many would probably like to call this a “feel good” romance. I don’t know, from my childhood, I have accustomed myself that only “they lived happily, ever after” are “feel good”. If pain and loss in love can be considered “feel good”, then this one is. It is actually the “pain of love”, which has inspired many a great poets and achievers (in the creativity industry, more importantly) towards goals. This movie, or rather Gowtham Menon’s career, can be a testimony to this particular aspect.

EDIT: Days after I published this post, I found this particular song "Maalai Neram" from "Aayirathil Oruvan", fitting-like-a-glove for the mood, feel and substance of this movie (VTV). Listen to this number ...

காதல் இங்கே ஓய்ந்தது ... கவிதை ஓன்று முடிந்தது
தேடும் போதே தொலைந்தது – அன்பே
இது சோகம் ஆனால் ஒரு சுகம்
நெஞ்சின் உள்ளே பரவிடும்
நாம் பழகிய காலம் பரவசம் – அன்பே
இதம் தருமே …

பேருந்து பயணங்களில் ...

2010-02-11T12:36:00.000-08:00

பேருந்தில் பயணம் செய்வது எனக்கு எப்போதுமே பிடித்தமான விஷயமாக இருந்துவந்திருக்கிறது. என் அப்பாவிடம் டி.வி.எஸ் முதலிய உந்துவண்டிகள் அன்றைய நாட்களில் இருந்திருக்கவில்லை, அதனால் சிறுவயதினில் எங்கு வெளியே செல்வதாயினும் பேருந்து தான். இதற்காகவே வாரா வாரம் அம்மாவுடன் சந்தைப்பேட்டை செல்வது மிகவும் பிடித்தமானதாக இருந்தது எனக்கு. பவானி கூடுதுறை எங்கள் வீட்டிலிருந்து சற்று தொலைவு. ஒரு மணி நேரம் பிடிக்கும் ... ஒரு மணி நேரப் பேருந்துப் பயணத்திற்காகவே எனக்கு கூடுதுறை மிகவும் பிடித்திருந்தது. அப்போதெல்லாம், பல முறை சென்று வந்த போதிலும் பாதை மற்றும் சாலையோர அம்சங்களை நினைவில் வைத்துக்கொள்ள பிரயர்த்தனப்படுவேன். எனினும், ஒவ்வொரு பயணமும் புதிதாகவே தோன்றும். இன்றளவும், பெங்களூரிலிருந்து சொந்த ஊரான சேலம் செல்லும் போது கூட பேருந்து பயணம் களிப்பு மிகுந்த அனுபவமாகவே எனக்கு தென்பட்டுவருகிறது. ஆயினும், பெங்களூர் வாசம் உள்ளூர் பேருந்து பயணத்தினை வெறுப்பும், சலிப்பும் உடைய அனுபவமாக மாற்றியது வேறு விஷயம்.

எல்லோரையும் போலவே "ஜன்னலோரம்" எனக்கு மிகப்பிடித்தமான ஒன்று ("பேருந்தில் நீ எனக்கு ஜன்னலோரம்" என்று பாட்டெழுதும் அளவுக்கு இது ஒரு பொதுப்படையான விருப்பம்). அன்றைய காலங்களில் பேருந்தில் ஏறியவுடன் கண்களை வேக, வேகமாய் அலைய விட்டு என் தம்பியையும், என்னோடு ஏறியவர்களையும் முந்தியடித்து ஒரு ஜன்னலோர இருக்கையை பிடித்து அமர்வதிலே நான் கொள்ளை ஆர்வம் காட்டியிருக்கிறேன். இன்றைக்கும் பேருந்தின் ஜன்னலோரம் எனக்கு கவிதையாகவே தோன்றுகிறது. முன் செல்லும் சாலை, பின் நகரும் மரங்கள், விசித்திரமான மற்றும் வித்தியாசமான மனித முகங்கள் ... ஒரு முழுமையான அனுபவம் அது. திரைப்பட சுவரொட்டிகளை பார்த்தல், கடைகளின் பெயர்ப்பலகைகளை வேகமாய் எழுத்துக்கூட்டி வாசித்தல், மற்றொரு பேருந்து முந்திச்செல்லும்போது தென்படும் முகங்களை நோக்குதல் என்று சுவாரசியங்கள் ஏராளம். சில முறைகள், இன்று எத்தனை பேரை சாலையோரங்களில் காண்கிறோம் என எண்ணிக்கை வைத்தது கூட எனக்கு நினைவிருக்கிறது.

பதின்பருவங்களில் பேருந்து பயணம் எனக்கு ஒரு வித்தியாசமான பரவசத்தை அளிக்கத்தொடங்கியிருந்தது. இந்தத்தருணத்தில் ஆர்.கே.எம் (RKM) ஐப் பற்றிய ஒரு சிறு அறிமுகம் தேவைப்படுகின்றது. RKM சங்ககிரியிலிருந்து பவானி நோக்கி இயக்கப்பெறும் ஒரு தனியார் பேருந்து. எங்கள் பள்ளியில் ஒன்பதாம் வகுப்பு முதலான மாணவர்களுக்கு தினமும் காலையில் சிறப்பு வகுப்புகள் நடைபெறும். தினமும் காலை 7.45 மணிக்கெல்லாம் நாங்கள் பள்ளியில் இருக்க வேண்டும். RKM சரியாக 7.15 மணிக்கு சங்ககிரியிலிருந்து புறப்பட்டு 7.40 க்கு எங்களை பள்ளியில் சேர்க்கும். நான் 7.15 மணிக்கு வீட்டில் இருந்து எனது மிதிவண்டியில் கிளம்பி, என் பெரியம்மா வீட்டில் மிதிவண்டியை நிறுத்தி விட்டு, 7.25 மணிக்கு பேருந்தில் ஏறுவேன். ஏறக்குறைய, வெறும் 15 நிமிடங்கள்தாம் பேருந்துப்பயணம் என்றாலும் அந்தப்பயணம் அளித்த அனுபவங்கள் அலாதியானது. அந்தப்பேருந்து கிட்டத்தட்ட எங்கள் பள்ளி மாணவர்களுக்காகவே இயக்கபட்டதென எண்ணவே தோன்றும். அப்பேருந்தின் காலை 7.15 இயக்கத்தின் போது பயணம் செய்யும் கிட்டத்தட்ட 65 பேர்களில் சுமார் 40 பேர் எம் பள்ளி மாணாக்கராகவே இருப்பர். எங்களுக்கு பயணச்சீட்டு கட்டணத்தில் சலுகை அளிக்கப்பட்டதாகக்கூட நினைவு.

RKM பேருந்து அழகான நேர்த்தியுடன் அலங்கரிக்கப்பெற்றிருந்ததாய் நினைவிருக்கிறது. பின்புறம் கண்ணாடியில் ஐஸ்வர்யா ராய் அழகாக சிரித்துக்கொண்டிருப்பார். பேருந்தில் பொருத்தப்பெற்றிருந்த ஒலிப்பெருக்கிகள் கூட நல்ல தரமானவையாகவே எனக்கு அப்போது தோன்றின. இன்றும் கூட, அந்நாட்களின் காலைப்பயணத்தின் போது நான் ரசித்துக்கேட்ட ஒன்றிரண்டு திரைப்பாடல்கள் எனக்கு நன்றாக நினைவிருக்கின்றன. "வானத்து நிலவெடுத்து வாசலில் வைக்கட்டுமா ?", "காதல் என்பதா காமம் என்பதா ?", "உயிரின் உயிரே" முதலிய பாடல்களின் வரிகளை படியில் நின்றுகொண்டே முனுமுனுத்தது பசுமரத்தாணி. RKMன் நடத்துனர்கள் கூட மிகவும் இயல்பாகவே பழகியதாக நினைவு ... பெரும்பாலும் எங்கள் வயதையொத்த இளைஞர்கள் தாம் .. பேருந்து முழுக்க பள்ளிப்பாவையர் - பேருவகையுடனே பயணச்சீட்டைக் கிழித்தனர்.

சங்ககிரி போன்ற சிறுநகரத்தில் அமையப்பெற்ற பள்ளிகளில் சமுதாய ஆண்-பெண் ஒழுக்கக்கூறுகள் எவ்வாறெல்லாம் நிறுவப்பெற்றிருக்கும் என்பதற்கு பெரிய அளவில் விளக்கம் தேவையில்லை என்று கருதுகிறேன். (இன்றைய தேதியிலும், சென்னை மற்றும் தமிழகமெங்கும் உள்ள பொறியியல் கல்லூரிகளில் நடைமுறைப்படுத்தப்பட்டுள்ள விதிகளைக் கவனித்தாலே புரியும், நமது ஒழுக்கக் கோட்பாடுகள்). கலாசார காவலர்கலாகவே வலம் வருவார்கள் ஆசிரியர்கள். பள்ளியின் பெயர் பாதிக்கப்பட்டுவிடக்கூடாது என்பது அவர்களது குறியாக இருந்தது. இயல்பாக அமையப்பெற வேண்டிய ஆண்-பெண் நட்புச்சூழல் சமூகம், பள்ளி, கல்லூரி எங்குமே கிடைப்பதில்லை என்பது தனிப்புலம்பல் ... அதை விடுவோம்.

கட்டுப்பெட்டித்தனமே நிறைந்து வழிந்தோடும் சமூகத்திடமிருந்தும், பள்ளியிடமிருந்தும் ஒரு தற்காலிக விடுதலையாகவே அந்த RKM பயணம் எனக்குத்தென்படுகிறது. அந்த வயதினில் இவற்றை நான் உணர்ந்ததில்லை ... ஆனால், இன்று அப்படித்தான் எண்ணத்தோன்றுகிறது. உண்மையாகவே, RKM பயணங்கள் பதின்பருவத்தினரான எங்களின் உற்சாகம், வேகம், உணர்வுகள் முழுவதையும் பிரதிபலிக்கக்கிடைத்த ஊற்றுக்கன்னாகவே கருதுகிறேன். அன்றைய எண்ணங்களும், சிந்தனை ஓட்டமும் வித்தியாசமானவை ... என்றாலும், இன்றளவில் எண்ணிப்பார்த்தால் பதின்பருவத்து உணர்வுகளான Peer pressure, Infatuation, shyness, coyish glances முதலிய அனைத்தையும் சிக்கலின்றி நாங்கள் வெளியிட்ட இடம் RKM பேருந்து தானோ என்றெண்ணுகிறேன். மொத்தத்தில் நாங்கள் நாங்களாக இருக்கும் வெகு சில இடங்களில் அந்த RKM பயணத்திற்கு மிக முக்கியப்பங்கு இருந்ததென்னவோ உண்மை.

வாழ்த்து அட்டைகளோ, காதல் மடல்களோ பரிமாறிக்கொள்ளும் அளவுக்கெல்லாம் எவனுக்கும் தைரியம் இருந்ததாக நினைவில்லை ... எல்லாம் பார்வைகளின் ஊடாகவே நடந்தேறின. எனக்கு நினைவு தெரிந்து நான்கைந்து காதல் ஜோடிகளுடன் நான் பிரயாணம் செய்திருப்பேன். ஒன்றிரண்டு சீனியர்-ஜூனியர் ஜோடிகள் கூட உண்டு. உணர்வுகளை வெளிப்படுத்த பார்வைகள் மட்டுமே கைவசம் உள்ள நிலையில், அந்த தவிப்பு மிகுந்த சிருங்காரப்பார்வைகள் ...கண்கூடாய்ப்பார்த்தது நினைவிருக்கிறது எனக்கு. பலசமயங்களில், பேருந்தின் முன்பகுதிகளில் அமர்ந்திருக்கும் பெண் இவனை கவனிக்கக்கூடமாட்டாள் ... அவள் நோக்கும் ஒரு நொடிக்காக காத்துக்கிடப்பான் இவன். இதில் சமவயதுக்காரர்களின் கிண்டல், கேலிகளையும் சமாளித்தாக வேண்டும். இப்படியாக எங்களோடு எங்களின் எத்தனையோ தவிப்புகளையும், உணர்வுகளையும் சுமந்து தாம் RKM பயணம் செய்திருக்கும்.

அவசரம் அவசரமாக அசைன்மென்ட் காப்பி அடிப்பது, தேர்வு சமயங்களில் வினாக்களை விவாதிப்பது, புத்தகத்தை வைத்து படிப்பது, படியில் நின்று சீன் போடுவது என அனைத்தும் RKMஇல் ஐக்கியம். சினிமா, கிரிக்கெட் முதலிய பொதுப்படையான விமர்சனக்கருத்தாக்கங்களும் நடைபெற்றுக்கொண்டிருக்கும். சில சமயம், முந்தைய நாள் கிரிக்கெட் ஆட்டம் அக்குவேராய் பிரித்து மேயப்பட்டுக்கொண்டிருக்கும். 10 மற்றும் 12 ஆம் வகுப்பு பொதுத்தேர்வுகளுக்குக்கூட RKM இல் தான் நான் பயணம் செய்தேன். RKM எனது பள்ளி வாழ்கையின் ஒரு முக்கியமான பாத்திரம் என்றே கருதுகிறேன்.

கல்லூரிப்படிப்பு - விடுதி வாழ்க்கை ... பேருந்துக்கும் எனக்குமான தொடர்பு அறுந்தே போனது. பின்னர், பெங்களூர் வாசம் ... இங்கு தங்குதடையின்றி வாகனங்கள் செல்ல வழியே இல்லை. பேருந்து பயணங்கள் களிப்பும், சுவாரசியமும் தருவதற்க்கான மிக முக்கியமான காரணம் - காட்சி இன்பம் தான் ... சாலையில் வேகமாய்ப் பயணிக்கும் போது தான் அது காணக்கிடைக்கும். பேருந்து சிக்னலில் நின்றே கிடக்கும் காலம் தனில் அது வெறுப்புக்குரிய அனுபவமாக ஆகிறது. நம்ம ஊர் அரசுபேருந்தில் கிடைக்கின்ற இன்பம், இங்கே எனக்கு வோல்வோ பேருந்தில் கிட்டியதில்லை என்பேன்.

Tamil Padam and Goa - Reviews

2010-01-31T03:00:00.000-08:00

Spoiler-free ...

Tamil Padam (2010)

I am not going to evaluate this movie analysing it's Camera composition, Sound Recording, Editing excellence and the likes. Keep aside the sacred rules of Cinema and hop onto it ... But, I think it is reasonable on my part to expect an engaging screenplay, even though it brands itself a Mockumentary feature. The Only reasonable benchmark against which the movie can be accessed should be, Vijay TV's weekly feature "Lollu Sabha". But, honestly speaking, the movie fared much below-par, the standards of a spoofy mockumentary and presents a much boring endeavor altogether.

If you look at the rolls of Tamil Cinema, if this movie is the curtain-riser of this so-called genre "Mockumentary", the answer would be "Yes". A few of the Satyaraj flicks (like Englishkaaran and Mahanadigan), Venkat Prabhu's cocktails and the most recent "Quickgun Murugan" etc have a pinch of this genre, but not as wholesome as Tamil Padam. The movie's stills and trailor only heightened up our expectations and we were all set for an absolute rib tickler. Being aware of the fact that the movie is going to pick up pieces from various tamil films, the only expectation from my side was, "How will the screenplay be adjusted to fit in all those pieces of a jigsaw puzzle ?". Ahh !! And, the result, I should say, was miserable.

The characters - I understand that the movie is a parody and that the characters are caricatures, but you need not be caricaturously caricaturesque. I don't ask for touchy characters but for logical & hilarious ones. The cast of Manobala, M.S.Bhaskar, Vennira Aadai and Paravai Muniyamma - the oldie-foursome with all their college-dude characterisations and machi-conversations just torture you to the highest possible extent. I was frequently glancing at my watch for the movie to get over and the second half was an extreme prick and I should say, a lot (if not all) of Lollu Sabha episodes were better than this movie. The problem, I think, was with the length. The movie runs for close-to 2:15 hours and you only rush out of the theatres as it has got over.

Complaints apart, the film has it's hilarious moments, Thalapathy-Mammooty and the Mani ratnam style one word conversations, "Ippaadalai Paadikondiruppavar ungal Siva", Mouna Raagam-Karthik, Lady Don Sornam and her rape attempts, becoming a millionaire in half a song, A English song - etc were good. Mirchi Shiva just fits in the role and he is becoming more of a type-cast, these days ... His performance was good anyways. The film parodies various tamil masala regulars like Introduction song, punch dialogues, village panchayats etc but definitely loses out in keeping you engaged, the whole slot. The heroine was a regular face and a more regular role - Nothing great.

The film tries to score on the shock value, by parodying tamil cinema to an all new, non-existent low stature. But, even then, it doesn't seem to work all fine. The film looked more like an unfinished product, with hanging scene sequences and absolutely out-of-nowhere plot incidents. I still feel that the movie would have kicked-off with the script in its infancy and the product, instead of being a polished outcome, was crude and looked like patches pasted together.

I am supremely confident that, with however lighter vein, you are in, you wouldn't be able to avoid those distressed disturbances & uneasiness, at some point or the other, with the movie. Considering the fact that you have the entire 80 year old tamil cinema history at your disposal, the film could have been more interesting. A bit of more homework on the director's part would have resulted in a better-fit pieces on this jigsaw board.

Miserable and Missable.

Goa - A Venkat Prabhu Holiday (2010)

A Few random thoughts & opinions ...

Goa is a typical Venkat Prabhu venture, with mostly his regulars in the cast department. The movie started with a Ramarajan style village setting song & banyan-tree panchayat and me, still with the Tamil Padam hangover of the last night was aghast. Thank God, Venkat Prabhu knew when and where to stop.

Three constrained & conservative village lads (Jai, Vaibhav and Premji) travel to Goa and adventure the glitz and glamour of the beach-paradise. That was all the movie is about and the movie was never bad, honestly ... Whenever the screenplay hung-on, Venkat just maneuvered the script ahead and "All was well".

Lights on a few aspects of the film ...

Male Homosexuality - I couldn't recall the last time, when the gayism or the male homosexuality is dealt in all these details in a tamil movie. Share of the beds, hugs, six-packs gazing, open dialogues addressing the relationship - Am I in India ? ... I still couldn't believe, how they were let-off at the censors. There was absolutely no hideous or subtle dealing and it was all black and white. It was meant to be a comic track but still, I couldn't understand the Indian censors.

Subramaniapuram Hangover - It's high-time Venkat and his boys escape this "Kangal Irandaal" hangover. Premji Amaran has already patented this turning his head backward and gently swaying his head (Hope you understand what was meant) action and has used it more than Jai (in Subramaniapuram) himself. Whenever a romantic scene opens up, Premji does this and James Vasanthan's BGM props up. I could see people enjoying it at the cinema hall, anyways (including me). I have this getting-ready-to-laugh syndrome, as soon as Premji appears in the frame. He just manages to put everybody in laugh-riots with his custom body language and dialogue delivery. He does action sequences also, in this movie.

Camera Cool - Sakthi Saravanan - Wow !! Gorgeous camerawork. You only get that Jill-Jill tone through out the Goa sequences. Bluish beaches and dashing bikinis - Saravanan just brings you Goa alive. Me, being a Goa resident for four years, haven't seen such a beautiful Goa with naked eyes & Saravanan's camera-eyes does that in all efficiency... The film brings out an utterly glamorous depiction of Goa and his camera just aids the point.

As the second half opens up, there was a slight slow-down, in a not-so-racy script. But, before the effect becomes much more pronounced, the film moves ahead. Definitely, those timing comedy pieces, trademark of this gang, was missing in this venture. Probably, Venkat runs out of stuff on this particular aspect. Premji Amaran, without a girlfriend in both Chennai-28 and Saroja (and was desperate to get one), is presented with an absolutely gorgeous Melanie Marie in this movie. Pia Bajpai (the close-up ad fame) and Sneha just spice up their roles. The build-up towards the climax is not so interesting and surprisingly, you get Nayantara and Simbhu (No .. No... Not together !!!) in guest appearances at the climax.

Overall, the film looked enjoyable all the way. On a final note, the Venkatprabhu style movie is losing that punch, mainly because he is running out of fuel on this genre & style. If at all there's a next movie from him employing the same screenplay sense and script-flow, that might turn out unattractive to the audience. Buck up Venkat !!! Time to amend ...

Definitely watchable.

M.G.Ramachandran's Film & Political career - A Critical assessment

2009-12-23T09:48:00.000-08:00

M.G.Ramachandran's 22nd Death Anniversary Special

24th of December ... Exactly 22 years earlier, Tamilnadu was a ground of uncontrollable grief and social & political unrest of huge magnitude. The entire state came to a standstill as people were aghast with shock on the death of their beloved Chief Minister, M.G.Ramachandran (MGR). The response was genuine and highly emotional to the extent of a large number of reported self-immolations.

Dinamani dated 25th December, 1987 - Carrying the news of MGR's death.

The following article is a recap of, what MGR was to tamil filmgoing audience and tamil people, in general. Most of the facts presented were borrowed from various media and the output is a result of my understanding of the various inputs I received. The article will try to assess the cinema and political career of MGR and I generally will try to avoid the flowery descriptions that he always gets from any media, print or visual.

MGR starred in his first major film role "Raajakumari (1947)" and for a larger part of his film career spanning 30 years till "Madhurayai Meetta Sundarapaandiyan (1977)", he was the reigning superstar of the tamil filmdom. MGR's popularity as an actor was well pronounced and more readily seen after his own production & directorial venture "Naadodi Mannan (1958)" broke and set new box-office records.

If you leave aside his most obvious box-office capabilities and success, what were his contributions to Cinema, as such ?.

Actor Vs Director
Early 50s were a crucial period for tamil cinema as this period saw the emergence of a large number of films with social themes (transition from Mythology based movies). If not for the star system (MGR & Sivaji Ganesan) that developed during this period, the control of the cinema would have rested with the directors instead of the lead actors. MGR paid ample attention in moulding his on-screen persona and encouraged hero worship. In MGR's case, it is said that, he would interfere in each and every department of his film and that lead to the sidelining of the actual creator of the movie - the director, forever.

The Hero
MGR rewrote almost all the prevalent notions that defined a film's lead actor. In tamil popular culture where moustache is seen as a macho-symbol, MGR never acted with his original moustache. Also, when he made his way into the cinema, the lead actor should be in a position to lend his voice for the songs also. Playback singers weren't popular that time. MGR acted out what a film-hero should and shouldn't do on-screen. He was a definite milestone in tamil cinema's history and even today, actors like Rajinikanth, Vijayakanth and Vijay just follow him. The image of Robin Hood that he left behind was picked up by later generations of actors.

Enga Veettu Pillai

Masala Cinema
There is a very common term that we use these days, Masala film. What is a masala film ?. The film won't have a great plot ... The story never stands on its own but on entertaining scene sequences, good songs and stunts. I think MGR institutionalised and popularised this concept ... Sword/Silambam fights, romantic songs with attractively dressed ladyleads were almost universal in his later movies. "Enga Veettu Pillai", "Ulagam Sutrum Vaalibhan" etc offer grand examples of how a masala movie should be made.

Philosophical Songs
One good thing that formed a part of each and every MGR movie is his introductory / thathuvam / philosophical song. They really educated and inspired a generation of audience. Again, the credit for the song was never given to the lyric writer or the singer but to MGR. Even after the defect in his voice (M.R.Radha shot MGR at his throat, 1967), people discussed, "Vaathiyaar paatellam nalla dhan paaduraaru, dialogue pesum podhu dhan prachnai pola", which means, "MGR is able to sing the songs properly but only while delivering dialogues, he has the problem with his voice".

MGR and Latha

MGR never looked at cinema as an art. For him, it was sheer business. For producers, he was the most reliable brand available, MGR would stand for Maximum Guarantee of Returns for them. People never complained or expected real performances from him. They just wanted to watch him on-screen and whistle at his gimmicks for three hours. Interestingly, the MGR fanatics were referred to as "Whistleadichaankunjugal" (விசில்அடிச்சான்குஞ்சுகள்). MGR's films, in a way desensitivised the film-going audiences in Tamilnadu and made them very mediocre. On the other side, if you speak of monotonous performances, even Chaplin did the same. Entertainment is what people looked at and they got it in him. That's how it went !!!

Let's have a look at MGR's Political career.

MGR & AIADMK
It was a complete underestimation of MGR's potentials on Kalaignar's part that brought MGR into the political arena of Tamilnadu. Once he was in, he never turned back and was outrageously successful. MGR was never a serious politician in his beginning years or till the death of C.N.Annadurai in 1969. Annadurai called MGR his "Idhayakkani" and he was generally used by the DMK to mobilise people for political rallies and meetings. Annadurai has once openly commented on the vote-garnering capability of MGR. Out of DMK in 1972, MGR starts his own political party AIADMK and won the state assembly in 1977. What are his political achievements ?. Lets have a look ...

Anna and his "Idhayakkani" MGR

Tamilnadu on a back-foot
MGR's rule during 1977 to 1987 resulted in an apparently visible setback in terms of Industry & Commerce infrastructure and performance of Tamilnadu. The Economic indicators of the state were on a rampant back-foot during his governance. The development activities only slumped during his regime and this should be seen in light of the fact that MGR's party enjoyed a real continuous reign of the state, close to 11 years except for a brief period in 1980. Single party, Single administrator and hence uniform policies & governance should have only elevated the growth of the state, which sadly didn't happen during his period.

MGR - Jewel of the masses

Populism
MGR was straight from the studio sets of "Madurayai Meetta Sundarapandiyan" to the Chief Minister office and hence his administrative capabilities were below par, atleast during his first term. His government always concentrated on the populous schemes like the mid-day meal scheme etc (Which would keep his votebanks intact) rather than Infrastructure oriented schemes which should have put the state in a good shape in future.

Faction Politics
MGR is credited with setting up a faction-ridden AIADMK and factionist politics saw its peak during his regime. A large degree of misuse of powers and government funds was reported and this only deepened the economic disparities in the state. If it was DMK under M.Karunanidhi which introduced corruption into the state, ADMK under MGR institutionalised and mastered the course. His fans and devotees used to dismiss these facts with a simple explanation, "It is the people around MGR who do all these and that he isn't aware of things around him". Even if that is the case, Can it be called a good governance ?

Glamour Politics
MGR was very much aware of the saleability of his brand and was very consciously preserving his image. He was heavily made-up in all his public appearances. His fur cap and black glasses were only hiding his balding head and sunken eyes - signs of ageing. He never let people knew that he was ageing, for them he was still the same young man romancing with youthful ladies in cinema reels. MGR's brand of politics, the so-called "glamour politics" only set a bad example in the state that almost every actor in this state nurtures political ambitions just after delivering a box-office hit. I completely admit that the filmstars are also part of this democratic system and hence own every right to contest elections and lead people. But "Right" doesn't provide an automatic implication of administrative efficiency, which many of them lack at the outset.

The MGR Phenomemon
His politics never projected AIADMK as a party, it's policies or its plans / manifesto for the state and MGR remained the sole cynosure for AIADMK and its political propagandas. Whenever questioned about the policies, agenda and manifesto of the AIADMK party, MGR never came up with a concrete or complete explanation. He used to blabber Annaism, democracy, socialism, "Naadodi Mannan" etc. Apparently, In AIADMK's political entry and succeeding electoral duels with DMK, the wholesome attention is paid to the MGR Phenomenon only. Interestingly, the then Tamilnadu Food Minister Tirunavukkarasu once said, "We all are zeros.We gain our value because of the number one before us.The number one is MGR". In all the 200+constituencies, people always believed that they were casting their vote for MGR as they punched their ballots on the two-leaves symbol.

Leaderless AIADMK
By the fag end of his political career, MGR was largely sick and was unable to deliver his duties effectively. The party was in dangers of disintegration and there was an apparent unrest among the partymen. As long as he was alive, he successfully kept the party intact but left behind a chaotic and leaderless AIADMK. Lots of turmoil followed before things fell into place under Jayalalitha. This is a more serious blunder on the part of the leader of a party. Literally, the second rung was absent in AIADMK during his premiership of the party and AIADMK still remains so under Jayalalitha. For all these partypeople who call themselves patrons of C.N.Annadurai, Anna was a magnanimous leader who encouraged a second rung leadership in DMK and fondly called them "Thambigal", meaning younger brothers.

That's a lot of criticism. So, What has his government given Tamilnadu. My father gave me the following information and when I asked him, "Is that all ?", he said, "That's it". He was of a firm opinion that, even if MGR would have lived more, his party would have been defeated in the next polls because of apparent administrative negligence on his part and corely corrupt-head politicians of his party.

- Housing scheme for Harijans or the untouchables.
- Good Transport network or town bus facilities to small towns.
- Immensely popular Chief Minister's mid-day nutritious meal scheme.

Mid-day meals scheme
His Mid-day meals scheme has been analysed and applauded worldwide. In 1982, MGR started the noon-meal scheme for children below ﬁve years which was then expanded to include pre-schoolers, all primary school children, children up to 15 years of age in rural areas, old age pensioners, the destitute, widows and all pregnant women. The noon meal scheme has had a long run in Tamilnadu with a wider coverage and as a result various indicators of malnutrition showed a downward trend in Tamilnadu during the period.

Summary
Summing up, The relationship that MGR and DMK had before the formation of AIADMK was a symbiotic one. MGR required the party's light on him for a successful cinema career and also, It was the DMK's propaganda cinema and DMK's script writers who provided a kick-start for MGR's film career. DMK also took his services for adding glamour to the party and nobody can deny the importance of the sympathy wave (MGR was shot at the throat, 1967) that put DMK on the political saddle. Later MGR-MK fallout and the formation of AIADMK produced a wholesome shift in the state's politics. MGR's administrative capabilities and his political successes only seem to be an oxymoron, for me.

Nostalghia - Retro Images

2009-12-16T06:53:00.000-08:00

Just for the sake of a revision of our entertainment evolution ...
Probably a pointless post to flaunt my Image collection and Memory ..

Pictures with tweety notes ... Recall and have fun ...

"I am a Complan boy ... I am a Complan girl" - Classic Complan ad. Hats off for anybody who will identify these two little stars who later became Bollywood actors. [Answer at the end]

Madhubala on Stamps.

Madhubala personified an Innocent beauty and won millions of hearts with her smiles.

Mandakini on Filmfare cover.

Raj Kapoor's 1985 movie, Ram Teri Ganga Maili which has acquired a cult status now, got famous for this bath sequence and carved an instant celebrity status for Mandakini.

Ramayan telecast in Doordarshan (1987)

After the Sagars discovered Arun Govil's beautific smile and the power of televisual religion, Sunday mornings were never the same again. Nor was India, with Sagar's miracle-a-minute amalgam of 14 different versions of Valmiki's epic, keeping pace with an aggressive and unapologetic Hindutva that swept the nation. [Excerpt from India Today]

Sharmila Tagore on a Lux Print Ad.

Yes, I am Sharmila fetish .. like millions of Indians. From Ray's Apur Sansar to the jury at the Cannes ... Her's is an Illustrious ride.

Milind Soman in Captain Vyom.

My schoolpals liked Shaktimaan and I liked Captain Vyom. I Used to travel to my friend's home to admire his Sci-Fi gimmicks every sunday .. I guess the time slot is 10:30 AM.

Malgudi Days

Timeless, Classic ... RKNarayan, Period.

Mukesh Khanna in Shaktimaan .

Parle-G's Business strategy was one of the best this country has ever seen. Shaktimaan stickers with the Rs.3/- Parle-G packs was a business blockbuster, then.

Children reportedly jumped off from the terrace expecting a saviour in Shaktimaan.

Madhuri Dixit on Illustrated Weekly cover.

Madhuri was the Indian face of beauty before Aishwarya Rai took the honour. Madhuri was so famous in Pakistan that there was once a poster in Lahore stadium declaring, “Madhuri de do, Kashmir le lo (Give us Madhuri, take Kashmir)”.

Durga of Pather Panchaali.

Ray's Apu Trilogy completes 50 years in November, 2009. Durga was my favourite character in "Pather Panchaali" outscoring the title boy Apu.

Complan Kids: Shahid Kapoor and Ayesha Takia.

So, How was it ?

Antichrist (2009) - Incomprehensible !!!

2009-11-14T10:27:00.000-08:00

This is not at all a review !!!
No one can review this Lars von Trier film, as the film would, I am sure, convey different things to different viewers in succeeding viewings.

Some random thoughts ...

- Intensely horrific - the film stars only two characters (yes .. Absolute two), the fear or horror evoked is based only on the fear of being lonely or solitary. As far as I am concerned, it was genuinely horrific and definitely not a B-Grade exploitation. The viewer would naturally transcend himself/herself into the shoes of the protagonist and hence will feel engulfed with the fear of being lonely, under the circumstances portrayed.

- Very less dialogues - The film almost conveys everything via images and brilliant cinematography. Cinematography & the powerful imagery is the acute strength of the film and it almost single handedly carries the film forward. It was a real treat to get lost into those vivid images and I am sure the film's camera work would require a thesis-long analysis to comprehend the techniques and mastery exhibited.

- The film will evoke a lot of confusion and chaos in the minds of a viewer, atleast in the first viewing. Many shots and still images - I am sorry, I haven't comprehended them yet. Probably, a copy with the director's commentary audio track would help.

- Like Tarantino flicks, The film's narration carries a chapter structure. But the focus is linear and no flashbacks, no other characters - Lucky that way... Or else, it would have mounted even more incomprehensibility in the viewer.

- The film has in it, a lot of grossly violent sequences and really disturbing images. They just add up the confusion and more importantly, since the grossness is concerned with male and female genitalia also, I don't know .. If the film is suitable for all categories of audience (among adults only).

- Without spoilers here, the film, I guess, should be about the evil-ness that rests 'within' one's self, here in this case, within a female. By looking at the controversial critics the film has managed to receive, I guess again, the film is trying to question a few Biblical stuff. Due to non-acquaintance with Christianity or the Bible, I have no comments on that front, actually.

- Google out the meanings of the terms "Misogyny" and "Gynocide" before starting with the movie, if you aren't already aware of them. The film, quite heavily discusses them.

- It's quite unable to classify the film's genre ... IMDB calls it Drama & Horror. The film has a lot of surrealistic elements, helped accordingly by the camera.

- The film premiered at the Cannes 2009 and was nominated for the Palme d'Or and the film's ladylead Charlotte Gainsbourg won the Best Actress honour for her fine performance.

- The film, with some of it's gore and sexually violent images, will haunt you and it's very easy to call it bad or uninteresting on those grounds. But, on an under-layer, it has quite a lot of artistic or auteuristic nuances that are all open for your imagination, interpretation and appreciation. The film, I am sure, will be hailed as a classic and would attain a cult status in future.

- Not for all, definitely and not a must-watch also .. It has something very very different to offer ... You have the inclination ?? Start with it and no disappointments, I guarantee.

And a photo essay here, solely to highlight the mastery of the film's Cinematography ...

Black and white imagery - It has its beauty always !

Gross !

Lighting !

Believe it or not ! - It's Graphical ...

Surreal Love

One of the confusing still shots in the movie

Iruvar (1997) - Six Events that shouldn't have been skipped

2009-11-11T09:51:00.000-08:00

Mani Ratnam's Iruvar (1997) remains the only movie in Tamil Cinema that offers a panoramic glimpse into the glorious Dravidian Movement of Tamilnadu.The biopic presents a chronological view into the lives of two of the greatest personalities of Tamil cinema and Tamilnadu's politics, Mu.Karunanidhi and M.G.Ramachandran.

You can only laugh at this disclaimer...

There has been a general consideration that movies are the mirrors of the social, economical and political conditions of a country during a period, but this has never been true in India, I feel. Even during periods of political turmoil like wars, Emergency, Anti-Hindi agitations etc, Our cinema has never chose to speak about them.

Hence, Iruvar being the only torch-bearer that tries to pass the history or legacy of this political and social churning to the next generation of young viewers, We (or rather, I) expect it to be factually exact. Iruvar is a cinematic wonder, no doubt .. The movie's period touch, excellent art direction, lyrical dialogues, brilliant acting, wonderful direction - No flaws, absolutely. It is one movie, I would always like to boast and discuss about when it comes to cinematic quality. But, Factual flaws - ?. There's a huge list of them ... The movie, of course takes care of tiny aspects like Veluthambi's Dhoti wearing style (Annadurai used to tie his dhoti improperly), Anandan's dance movements in songs (A very good replication of MGR's movements), Senthaamarai's bindi etc. But, there is a huge list of misrepresentation of political events and I chose to list only a few of them. I understand that this is a feature film and not a documentary and hence the director owns every right to manipulate around with the screenplay but still ... !!!. I wish he creates a documentary on this by making use of the already-done-extensive-research on the topic.

Please click on the images for a magnified view.

1) The Split in the Dravidar Kazhagam (DK) and the Birth of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) (1949)

There were many instances in the movie where Veluthambi (Read C.N.Annadurai) is addressed as "Ayya" but E.V.Ramasamy (called Periyaar) has always been the "Ayya" and C.N.Annadurai was fondly called as "Anna" (meaning Elder brother) by his followers and the public. This way Mani Ratnam probably wants to convey that Veluthambi is both the "Ayya" and "Anna" and thus he creates some comfort for him, for the non-inclusion of Periyaar's character in the DMK's saga. Thus, the movie quite misleadingly refers to the birth of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) without any reference to Periyaar and the parent party - Dravidar Kazhagam (DK).

2) Anti-Hindi Agitations (1965)

The most important political and social event in the post-independent Tamilnadu's history should be the Anti-Hindi Agitations of 1965. And, it was a grave injustice that there is absolutely no reference to this radical movement that shook the country during the 60s. The Secessionist politics of the DMK and the original demand for a separate "Draavida Naadu" were also carefully overlooked or ignored.

The only related event that featured in the movie is Karunanidhi's "Kallakkudi Struggle" which in original was organised for the renaming of Dalmiyapuram Railway station as Kallakkudi. But, the movie presented a revolutionary Tamilselvam (Prakash Raj) conducting the demonstrations for the sake of Reservations. And, the punch of the protest was further mitigated by the romantic encounter between Tamilselvam and Senthaamarai (Tabu), in the midst of the turbulent agitations.

3) C.N.Annadurai - The Chief Minister of Tamilnadu (1967)

C.N.Annadurai taking Oath of office after DMK's stupendous success in the 1967 Assembly Elections.

DMK rode the wave with an overwhelming electoral victory in the 1967 Assembly elections capitalising the Anti-Hindi agitations of 1965 and MGR's near-death encounter as he was shot in the throat by M.R.Radha. And, C.N.Annadurai - the then General secretary of the DMK became the first non-congress Chief Minister of Tamilnadu. In the movie, Veluthambi (Nasser) expresses disinterest on heading the state and Tamilselvam becomes the CM with Anandan's (Mohanlal) support. This way, the events that actually took place after Annadurai's death in 1969 - Mu.Karunanidhi becoming the CM with the support of MGR, were pushed ahead by approximately two years.

4) The Birth of Anna-DMK (1972) & The Dindigul by-election (1973)

The cinema entry of Mu.Ka.Muthu (Karunanidhi's son) as a competitor to an ageing MGR, created well-pronounced rifts in an already diminishing MGR-Karunanidhi relationship. Though the magnitude looks small, Mu.Ka.Muthu's "Pillayo Pillai" is still considered an immediate impetus that gave birth to the MGR's Anna-DMK. Thus, Maniammai (Periyaar's mistress) and Mu.Ka.Muthu hold a very important place in the state's political history - the former leading to the birth of DMK from DK and the latter leading to the birth of ADMK from DMK. Both find no mentions in Iruvar.

The Dindigul by-election (1973) - MGR floated his political party ADMK in 1972 and was on a eager wait to prove his political mettle. The first oppurtunity came to him in the form of Dindigul by-election and ADMK's candidate Maayathevar defeated both the DMK and the Congress by a comfortable margin. The victory marked a decisive shift in the politics of Tamilnadu and more importantly, heralded the arrival of MGR in the political scenario of the state. Interestingly, MGR's "Ulagam Sutrum Vaalibhan (USV)" faced a lot of troubles from the ruling DMK at the censors for its release and MGR emerged successful with both actually ... May 12,1973 - Release of USV and May 20, 1973 - Dindigul elections.

These events were absolutely absent in Iruvar, though there has been a small mention about this before "Kannai katti kolladhe" song but Tamilselvam lets the movie through with a criticism of his rule of the state.

5) MGR at Brooklyn and AIADMK's Third Electoral Victory

Operation Bluestar, Indira's Assasination, Anti-Sikh riots (Yeah, in that order), Bhopal gas tragedy - 1984 was arguably the worst year in India's history after independence.

Dialysis, Apollo, Brooklyn - the most discussed words in Tamilnadu in 1984. The entire state was in a prayer mode conducting group-prayer sessions for the good health of their beloved Chief Minister, MGR. MGR was sick and was admitted in the Brooklyn hospital, United States and Jayalalitha Jayaram, R.M.Veerappan and Panruti Ramachandran were on the election campaigns. Apparently, people only required some proof that MGR was still alive and AIADMK used MGR's videos and photographs extensively during the campaign and the party comfortably packed another punch with a decisive third consecutive victory in the assembly elections. MGR came back in 1985 and was sworn in as the Chief Minister of the state, the third time.

Again - No reference.

6) Jayalalitha Jeyaram - MGR's Political Heir

There was a lot of drama in the AIADMK after the death of MGR in 1987, regarding the party premiership - MGR's widow Janaki Ramachandran on one side and his favourite lead lady in the cinemas, Jayalalitha on the other side. But Jayalalitha, with her charismatic personality and iron will was able to win the support of the party and has held the party intact since then. Jayalalitha is by far the most controversial political figure of the state and Iruvar chooses to erase this off the history books - Aarghh !!

Hope you enjoyed the history ride !!!

20 Iconic On-screen Couples of Tamil Cinema

2009-10-18T23:34:00.000-07:00

Disclaimers:
The list is not arrived at after a comprehensive survey of the entire film history and is only a reflection of the author’s tiny acquaintance with the cinema of the region and hence the list is undoubtedly personal.

It’s real sad that none of Gemini Ganesan’s (hailed the “Kadhal Mannan” aka “The king of romance”) movies could make it to my list, the only reason being ... I haven’t watched any of his films except “Then Nilavu” and that too as a kid. And, some of the iconic couples who won’t be seen in the following post for the same reason are, MGR – Saroja Devi, Sivaji – Padmini, Gemini – Vyjayanthimala, Gemini – Savitri etc.

And, No prize for counting the number of times, the word “Chemistry” is used in the post.

So, What’s this Iconic couple stuff, anyhow ? - Ever since cinema dawned as the principal entertainment medium for people, “Love” seems to be the one common aspect that both the film makers and the audience are obsessed with. From the days of MKThiagaraja Bhagavathar & PUChinnappa till “Vaaranam Aayiram”, romance-themed movies have always had a remarkable shelf life and entertainment value. And naturally, when a film captivates the audience, its protagonists or the lead actors stay with us. Art imitates life or life imitates art ... No, not a debate ... but there shouldn’t be any ambiguity on the fact that beautiful stories inspire lives (Be it any form of artistry – poem, novel or cinema). So, the following lengthy write-up is a result of my decision to relive and revive some of the wonderful on-screen couples who entertained us all these years.

Musicals - Our brand of cinema is very different from the other world cinema in a way that almost all our films are “Musicals”. Yeah, you can count the songless films in our film history, probably with the fingers of your hands. Songs are always seen by the west as needless hindrance to the flow of the movie – but honestly, there’s no underestimation of the importance of songs to our cinema. Our culture is distinctively different that, stage-plays and “Therukkoothu” were a part of our lives earlier and so when cinema took over at later stages, songs can’t be ruled out. There were instances when our cinema had more than 70 songs and that almost whole of the narrative is expressed via musicals. But on a purely personal note, item numbers and introduction songs are something that should be shown the red-card, I feel. So, why is this all said now ? ... Look down the following list and you will realise the importance of the melodious romantic songs and catchy duets in substantiating whatever is not said via the dialogues.

So, Into the list now ... (In no particular order ... The numbering is done only to provide an ordely view).

1) Moondraam Pirai (1982) – Kamal and Sridevi

Kamal and Sridevi – should be the favourite movie couple of any 80s film viewer. Starred in more than 20 movies together, they define everything related to this topic – attractive, elegant, alluring, charismatic and what not. “Varumayin Niram Sigappu” and “Meendum Kokila” offer good examples but there’s not a better example than “Moondraam Pirai”. Still considered a dream-role for any heroine, Sridevi’s performance was mindblowing. And then there’s the famous climax sequence which fetched Kamal a national award. The song “Kannae Kalaimaane”, the last one penned by Kannadasan, should summarise everything about the film.

2) Idhayam (1991) – Murali and Heera

They never looked into the eyes, they never sang duets, they never proposed and above all ... they barely talked to each other in the movie. Yet, the impact this on-screen romance created is still unparalleled & fresh and will continue so, across generations of viewers. While Murali’s “Unproposed love” is referred to in a lot of later movies, Heera created a style statement by placing the rose at the side of her banded hair. Ilayaraja’s BGM let romance flow throughout the film.

3) Mouna Raagam (1986) – Mohan and Revathi

Mohan represented the elements of an ideal husband with all his good-to-be behaviours and Revathi was caught between her old love & the new marriage. The portrayal of their love boiling down towards each other was awesome. Also, the Karthik – Revathi track in the flashback narrative featured an implicit & natural chemistry between them. The later is a “Haikoo” while the former is a charming "poetic nebula". Ask your mom her favourite movie and there will be a very good probability that the answer is “Mouna Raagam”.

4) Sillunu Oru Kaadhal (2006) – Surya and Jyothika

The movie premiered on the day of their wedding and this was the last time we saw the pair together on-screen. Thanks to a lot of movie appearances of the couple before this film that they appear to have a natural affinity and the chemistry appeared near-intrinsic. The Surya-Bhumika track in the movie will try to over-shadow this one but not so convincingly.

5) Sindhu Bhairavi (1985) – Sivakumar and Suhasini

Driven by desperation to share & discuss music, JKB (Sivakumar) finds an ideal companion in Sindhu (Suhasini). Suhasini’s performance with all her proactiveness, enthusiasm and genius of music, always looked deserving the National Award she won. This is not about love and bond – but about companionship. Though not completely platonic, the movie travels through a very thin line between professional companionship and personal intimacy.

6) Paruthi Veeran (2007) – Karthi and Priyamani

Can very well be hailed the biggest debut movie for an actor after Sivaji Ganesan’s “Parasakthi”, Paruthi Veeran launched Karthi on a real grand scale. Being truly regional, the film won numerous accolades at National (Best Actress – Priyamani) and International film festivals as well. The film can be justifiably compared to the arrival of “16 Vayathinile” in 1977 for its freshness and cult value. The film was a box-office blockbuster that the audience could feel the smell of the red soil and the intensity of a very raw romance in the A/C cinema halls. Toned camera work and beautiful serenades – the film definitely produced a perennially romantic couple in Veeran and Muthazhagu.

7) Mudhal Mariyadhai (1985) – Sivaji and Radha

Practically speaking, Sivaji Ganesan possessed every material in him to become a world class method actor. But our cinema only fed him with roles that demanded loud deliverance of lengthy monologues and groomed him into a overacting thespian. And, a few exceptions of this would include “Mudhal Mariyadhai” and “Devar Magan”. “Mudhal Mariyadhai” portrayed a platonic relationship between an aged village man and a young boat rower. Legendary Sivaji Ganesan just presented his character without any overacts and flamboyant Radha proved her acting prowess in the midst of iconic Sivaji. The songs “Vetti Veru Vaasam” and “Poongaatru thirumbuma” did ample justice in the build-up of this beautiful relationship on-screen. The movie’s songs found mentions in many later movies whenever a mature man-young girl relationship needs to be portrayed.

8) Rhythm (2000) – Arjun and Meena

This is one of my favourite movies – An unsung movie it is, it’s all about relationships. All the three romantic tracks involving Arjun & Jyothika, Ramesh Arvind & Meena and then Arjun – Meena were interesting. The movie’s song tracks had a uniqueness in the way they were written, covering all the five elements of nature – Water, Earth, Fire, Sky and Air. The protagonists were absolute strangers and the way they were drawn towards each other – poetic. The movie in its course portrayed various stages of a relationship starting from absolute outsiders through companionship, friendship and love.

9) Panneer Pushpangal (1981) – Suresh and Shanthi Krishna

Panneer Pushpangal, very boldly treated a usually overlooked but eternally present phenomenon – High school romance. The movie brilliantly delineated the hostel life at a convent, pointless puerile jealousies and the most characteristic aspect of the age – Immature mind and Infatuation. The movie didn’t actually required a chemistry between the lead actors and hence naive performances from Suresh and Shanthi never looked bad. After all, they were playing school kids in the movie. Prathap Pothan played a school teacher and his performance is quite acclaimed. “Anandha raagam” and “Kodaikkaala kaatre” were brilliant tracks from the movie.

10) Hey Ram (2000) – Kamal and Rani Mukherjee

This particular sequence involving Kamal & Rani is very short in the movie – less than 20 minutes considering the length of the movie that runs for over 200 minutes. But that couldn’t resist me from including this in my list. The scene opens with Rani’s eyes through the door-lens, the way she speaks tamil, the piano with a Kamal - Rani picture over it, the Bengali poetry and last but not the least - “Nee Paartha Paarvaikkoru Nandri”, an absolute musical gift from Ilayaraja - Everything you see and hear is romantic. And, I have seen this in many a movies - The piano - whenever it is shown, will be a metaphor for love or a romantic relationship. Catch this at Nammavar’s “Poonguyil Paadinaal” also. So, the next time you see the lights on a piano – Expect a romantic tickle there.

11) Johnny (1980) – Rajini and Sridevi

Wielding the angry young man looks and image, Rajini’s film career is mostly studded with action oriented mass entertainers. Mahendran offered a glimpse into a very different Rajinikanth – soft and lovable. Sridevi is a singer and Rajini likes her music and loves her. “En Vaanile ... Orey Vennila” – the way the song unfolds and progresses leaves you mesmerised. And Yeah, there was a piano here also – Read the “Hey Ram” description above.

12) Kadhal Kondaen (2003) – Dhanush and Sonia Agarwal

One of the rare kind of movies that explored relationship complexities. Vinodh (Dhanush), out all afresh from his church school couldn’t quite identify the affiliation he has with his classmate Divya (Sonia) at college - Is it friendship, love or lust ?. Divya looks at him as a friend but Vinod, driven by possessiveness just couldn’t let her go off him. Dhanush with those boyish looks and insane behaviour, made full use of the acting opportunity and won a lot of acclaim for the performance. And the movie brought the gorgeous Sonia to the tamil screens.

தாயாக நீ தான் தலை கோத வந்தால் உன் மடி மீது மீண்டும் ஜனனம் வேண்டும் ...

காதல் இல்லை, இது காமம் இல்லை, இந்த உறவுக்கு உலகத்தில் பெயர் இல்லை ...

The lyrics of "Nenjodu Kalandhiru” pinpointingly presents the confusion and complexity of the relationship. The tracks were chartbusters and provided an elevated feel of the film.

13) Oru Thalai Raagam (1980) – Shankar and Roopa

T Rajendar’s first directorial venture, the film depicted “One sided love” in all its colours. Though the lead actors weren’t noticed much, the film and its songs were very famous for the way it treated the tragic face of a romantic relationship. Set in a college backdrop, the film will only present a boring endeavour to an audience of our generation, the only reason being the dismal performance of the lead actors. No emotions, No modulation in dialogue delivery – they just speak the lines aloud. Nevertheless, “Oru Thalai Raagam” is a very important film for two reasons – One, the film is still used as an image of “love failure” and two, its proven boxoffice abilities. The film’s soundtrack featured seven songs all sung by the male protagonist.

14) Vaaranam Aayiram (2008) – Surya and Sameera Reddy

Considered the most personal movie of Gautham Menon, Vaaranam Aayiram provided the much needed freshness in our cinema’s portrayal of romance. Invariably liked by everybody, the Surya – Sameera conversation in the train, Surya’s meeting at Meghna’s (Sameera) home and then the crispy US narrative – the sequence provided an eventful and memorable romantic presentation classily different from the usual dull & routine depictions. The fervour of the on-screen romance was so deep that the film could successfully connect both the ecstatic romance of the couple and the excruciating pain of love, to the audience. Credits are due to Harris Jayaraj for the magic this movie created.

15) Pudhu Pudhu Arthangal (1989) – Rahman and Sithara

For the most part of his career, K Balachander remained an iconoclast and always seemed interested in blasphemic and taboo breaking relationships. This particular relationship portrayed in “Pudhu Pudhu Arthangal” was very interesting that it will just begin without a basis, proceed seamlessly driven by a wild passion - more like a oarless boat before it will face an abrupt end at the climax. But, the flow was poetic and the relationship was lyrical. Accompanied by mellifluous Ilayaraja numbers (especially “Keladi Kanmani ... Paadagan sangathi”), the movie’s song picturisations were engaging.

16) Kushi (2000) – Vijay and Jyothika

This S J Suryah venture still remains the prototype of a lot of later movies that present “Ego in romantic relationships”. It had a very clear screenplay expressing one of the most easily-seen but complex-to-explain facets of any relationship – ego. Screenplay played the hero of the movie but Vijay-Jyothika sequences had a pleasant substance and that material undoubtedly carries the film forward. The very famous “Jyothika Iduppu” scene and Mumtaz’s presence provided an enjoyment stimulus and electrified the audience.

17) Chinna Thambi (1991) – Prabhu and Khushboo

Perennially occupying the gossip pages of every tamil magazine during the early 90s, their on-screen romances as well as off-screen antics received a lot of attention and media glare. Prabhu’s performance with his well enacted childishness & ignorance was received well and the movie was a big-break for Khushboo – and the couple undoubtedly had that enviable sizzle associated with them. The movie’s boxoffice success was phenomenal and Khushboo’s arrival to the fore paved the way for the import of a lot of fair-skinned ladies from the North (to be cast as heroines) during the later stages.

18) Alai Paayuthe (2000) – Madhavan and Shalini

Dreamy and delightful urban romance, Alai Paayuthe launched Madhavan as a sensational lover-boy to the tamil cinema and Shalini, with all her unpretentious girl next door looks and homely behaviour - the couple shared an instantaneous chemistry. Definitely not the typical Maniratnam style movie, the film had a non-linear narrative structure and Rahman’s wonderful BGM & songs were instrumental in providing a wholesome romantic experience. The conversations between the two lead actors, specifically the one at the local train ("Aana idhellam nadandhudumonnu bayama irukku") were very engaging and memorable.

19) Guna (1991) – Kamal and Roshini

Guna is the story of a man mad(e) in(with) love. It presented a celestial love story where the male protagonist treats his lover, equivalent to a goddess (Abhirami). It had an ugly-looking Kamalhaasan in love with the angelic Roshini (real sad that she is not seen on-screen after Guna). It had a very different perspective of love – It’s depicted as a supernatural feature and a lustless bliss. “Kanmani Anbodu” and “Guna caves” still speak the impact, the movie created. But, the film which opened on the Diwali day met “Thalapathi” at the boxoffice and had a very poor run across the state.

20) Kadhal Kottai (1995) – Ajith and Devayani

Love seems to be the only impetus that manoeuvers our cinema ahead from time to time. “Every kind of love has been dealt with ... I should come up with a radically new and creative depiction of love” thought Agathiyan and the result was “Kadhal Kottai” - which had the lead actors who haven’t seen each other, in a romantic relationship. The idea was novel, the movie was a grand success and Agathiyan was gifted with the “Swarna Kamal” for the best director (National Award). When there’s no scope for dialogue deliverance across the couple and duets together – how to convey and reciprocate love ? ... Letters did it and the sweetness of the song “Nalam Nalamariya Aaval” conveys a lot. When Surya (Ajith) and Kamali (Devayani) meet at the railway station (yet again !) at the climax, you exhale in relief and send out a happy sigh.

Some other entries that narrowly missed the list are, Jeans – Prashanth and Aishwarya Rai, Bombay – Arvindsamy and Manisha Koirala, Alaigal Oyvathillai – Karthik and Radha, Keladi Kanmani – SPB and Radhika, Kilinjalgal – Mohan and Purnima, Poo - Shrikanth and Parvathi, Pudhiya Paadhai - Parthiban and Seetha, Idhyathai Thirudathey - Nagarjun and Girija, May Madham - Vineeth and Sonali.

So, the cruise gets over here ... Get out of the stream. Pour in your comments on the post.

Antarmahal: Views of the Inner Chamber (2005)

2009-10-11T07:26:00.000-07:00

It gets very difficult to say something about this film. I don't really want to write about this film but this has been sitting across my mind that I chose to shed them off me, by writing them down. The storyline is not a very usual one-liner and if I try to speak something on the story, it very well will be the spoiler and turns off the entire experience for a viewer.

It's a Rituparno Ghosh film with a very illustrious & beautiful star cast that includes Jackie Shroff, Abhishek Bachhan, Rupa Ganguly, Soha Ali Khan and Raima Sen. The three ladies of the cast - Rupa Ganguly, Soha Ali Khan & Raima Sen (Though Raima's is a short special appearance) all with that typical "Bengali-ness" take no time to transcend the viewer to the late 19th Century Bengal. And a special mention on the charming Soha Ali Khan who revives back the beautiful Sharmila Tagore of the 60s on-screen. A striking resemblance ...

Sharmila Tagore in Devi (above) and Soha Ali Khan in Antarmahal (below)

Two things stand out distinctly for me -

One -- The stunning & visually appealing art direction and wonderful set decoration. The sets are so minute in detailing everything that, the period feel is kept intact right from the first frame till the last one. The story is set in a Bengali Zamindari house and such a colourful art direction will definitely stay in oneself for a long time. Somebody shows you a picture or a clip without the stars of the film and you will identify - Its that Artistic and beautiful. Combine a bright and colourful cinematography with that and everything you see on-screen is beautiful.

Two -- The film offers a saddening look on the social practices and treatment of women in ancient India. We know them all from our history books but they offer only the textual knowledge -- Polygamy, Domestic violence, a foolish dependence on whatever advice the priests have got to offer etc, all portrayed with a satirical sense. Male Chauvinism over-boils and flows through out...

And, then there is a lot more the film has got to offer ... The British rule in Bengal, "Rai Bahadur" title for Zamindars, the grandeur of "Durga Pooja" celebrations, Queen Victoria etc.

A very rewarding cinematic experience it will be. The next time you watch a Bengali art, you know what to expect ...

Mother India (1957), Sippikkul Muthu (1985) and India's Official Oscar Entries

2009-10-09T23:50:00.001-07:00

Mother India (1957)

Mehboob khan's "Mother India" is India's first submission to the Oscars and quite deservingly, it won a nomination also in the "Best Foreign film" category. It not only received a nomination but also gave a stiff competition to Federico Fellini's "Nights of Cabiria", that the jury voted for as many as three times and it is only the third time "Nights of Cabiria" emerged the winner by a margin of just one vote. Such is the greatness of this still-favourite-of-many classic.

"Mother India" is the saga of a woman – Radha (Nargis Dutt). Radha enters the village as a newly wed bride with her husband Shamu (Raaj Kumar). There's an evil-headed money lender, Sukhilal who exploits the illiterate family and carries away the reaps from their farmland, as the interest for the money he has loaned, every year after the harvest. The family turns immensely poor and tragically, Shamu loses his hands in an accident & walks away from the family. Then, it's all about Radha's struggles with poverty & raising up her two sons, Birju and Ramu and Birju's revolt against the atrocities of the money lender Sukhilal.

The first part of the film is all about poverty and struggles. There was a lot of hopelessness & despair and Nargis scores heavily with these sequences. Portrayed with a sheer sense of motherhood, patience and sacrificial attitudes – Nargis stands tall and evokes a lot of sympathy in the viewer.

The film provides a vivid and colourful picture of India of the 50s. The villages, traditional and cultural values in the society, healthy dependence on Agriculture (backbone of India's economy), Construction of dams, tanks and canals (Temples of Modern India, as Nehru refers to) etc - India in its infancy of growth and development.

Then there's this famous fire scene, which has been re-enacted in "Om Shanti Om", with SRK and Deepika. During the shoot of a fire sequence for the film, Nargis was caught between the flames and Sunil Dutt (plays Nargis' son in the movie) saved her and the two got close that it ended up in their marriage.

One of the signature scene sequences of the 50s and 60s films should be, the closeup shots of the heroine's face. The heroines would be heavily made up so fair and with thick red lipstick, a real curvy and dark eyebrows, black dots on the chin (dhrushti) and then they would be shot with that girlishness covering up one half of their face with one hand – "Nalina"and "Naanam". There's one such sequence here and it was beautiful.

A colour film in the 50s – The film is a Indo-Russian co-production. The film's international vision could be seen by the fact that the title cards and credits are fully in English and not in Hindi. The film is technically wonderful considering the fact that it is made 52 years back - Crops and farms are photographed quite beautifully, Depiction of a flood is really good, Editing and scene-transitions though seem trivial now, would have been very well ahead of the times during 50s. More than anything, it provides a cinematic and filmy feel, when the Indian films of the period were considered stage-playish and dialogue-centric. It definitely conveys things with that "cinematic language".

The length of the movie is something that might haunt you. It runs for about 3 hours – short by 6 minutes. Honestly speaking, the last one hour had a lot of drag-ons and I felt there are more than one unnecessary scene sequences. But, again you can never be in the shoes of a 50s cinema viewer.

The realistic portrayal of poverty in the first half and Nargis' performance are the sure highnotes of the film. Though the film has stood the test of the times, I still feel it hasn't really got a lot of cinema to offer to a modern cinema viewer of our generation. After all, It's been more than half a century since it was made.

Sippikkul Muthu (1985)

Swathi Muthyam (1985) by K.Vishwanath is India's Oscar submission for the 1986 edition. The film starred Kamal Haasan and Radhika and it was dubbed in Tamil as "Sippikkul Muthu". Sankarabharanam (1979), Saagara Sangamam (1983) [Salangai Oli in tamil] and Swathi Muthyam (1985) are three important films by Vishwanath, which redefined the telugu cinema audience's taste. All the three were made with that "auteur" sense, which we more commonly call "Art films". The first one Sankarabharanam won a National award while the last two have been India's Oscar submissions.

In "Sippikkul Muthu", Kamal Haasan plays an autistic person (retarded mental growth) with no real knowledge and understanding of whatsoever thing, he comes across. He develops a child like affection towards a widow (Radhika) & her son in the village and one fine day, ties the nuptial knot (to her surprise) to pull her out of her woes. The way he matures up and leads a meaningful life for his wife & her son , forms the rest of the plot.

Yet another good performance from Kamalhaasan and Radhika is no less. Beautiful songs, wonderful music - "Varam thantha saamikku" is still used by mothers as they feed their young ones. Definitely, A good film it is.

One thing that haunted me through out is the dubbed voice for Kamal in the tamil version, Sippikkul Muthu. We are so used to that manly Kamal voice that we miss it in this movie. And it was difficult in the beginning to get along with this dubbed one.

Both "Saagara Sangamam" and "Swathi Muthyam" - though good and worthy films on our national circuit, definitely donot deserve an Oscar nomination, in my views. Looked upon with an international vision, they have their own compromises like needless song sequences, Jayaprada's bathing sequence in "Saagara Sangamam", Deepa's bathing sequence in "Sippikkul Muthu", a not-so-fitting old man look of Kamal in "Sippikkul Muthu" etc. It is said that the jury rejected "Saagara Sangamam", as Kamal Haasan dances "Bharathanattiyam" without having his underarms shaved, which shouldn't be so. [May not be an authentic information]

India's Official entry to Oscars 2010

So... It's "Harishchandrachi Factory", a Marathi feature that is expected to bring that coveted "golden lady" to India for the first time in "Best Foreign Film" category. And what is more delightful is that the film is on Dadasaheb Phalke, rightly considered the father of Indian Cinema. It depicts the struggle of Dadasaheb Phalke in making "Raja Harishchandra" in 1913, India's first feature film, thus the birth of Indian cinema (Wiki says so). And, while I am writing this - Germany's official entry has been announced and it is none other than the Palme d'Or winner at the Cannes 2009 - "Das weiße Band" or "The White Ribbon". So, I expect it to receive a nomination and if at all our film also receives a nomination - It will be a Herculean competition. For this very reason - I respect the "Best Foreign film" winner at Oscar more than the "Best film" Oscar. The Best film oscar is fairly simple that it mostly (more than 95%) considers the Hollywood productions & English language films. And the real competition is at the "Best Foreign film" category where you have to first fight with the best cinematic works of each country to reach the final five. Once you have won a nomination, then it is all about "First among equals", I beleive. Of course, when you send a film like "Jeans" to the Oscars to speak about your cinema's valour to the west, the task becomes very simple for the jury to rule out stuff. "Jeans" over "Satya" in 1998 and "Paheli" over "Hazaaron Khwaishein aisi" in 2005 are a very few mentions of the horrendous blunders committed by the selection committee in India. Can you imagine the fact that two of the Shankar's films have been sent to Oscars from India next only to Satyajit Ray's three.

Enna Koduma Saravanan idhu !!!

Past is Past ... All the best Harishchandrachi Factory !!!

Die Welle (2008) - Review

2009-10-04T11:23:00.000-07:00

Die Welle aka The Wave (2008)

imdb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1063669/

Directed by: Dennis Gansel
Cast: Jürgen Vogel and an ensemble cast.

The Venue - A High school in Germany...
The Characters - A teacher and his class
The Occasion - A project week and the topic is "Autocracy"

The class begins with the discussion of "What is Autocracy ?" and progresses along the lines of "Dictatorship and Autocracy". There begins the simulation of an Autocratic society environment inside the classroom. Discussions branch out in directions of "What are the necessary ingredients in an Autocratic environment ?" and the answers being unity, discipline, social factors like political unrest and joblessness and the class simulate these one by one, in the classroom among themselves. The experimental exercise for the project gets really dangerous as the students develop a feel of them as "a mafiotic gang", alienate other students of the school and start developing this as a movement with a name "The Wave" (and hence the title), uniform, salutes (like the famous "Hail Hitler" bow), logos, websites, social parties etc.

The film presents a very lively and healthy classroom atmosphere where the students actually participate in the class, pour in their opinions on what-so-ever thing raised in the class, discuss their thoughts & ideas and debate various aspects. The film starts light and gets very serious as the students develop "that special feeling of unity and power" among themselves. Both the positive and negative aspects of this "unity amongst the class pupils" is depicted in whole of the movie. Though looks simple, the film offers several insights into the history of Germany (without explicit mentions) or the history of any country, for that matter. Every country will have that period of dictatorship, political unrest, social revolution etc in some phase of its' history.

I could feel the following thoughts & insights lingering in me, as I was going through the movie.

What is a teacher capable of ? - They are the sculptors of any society and a teacher own the real potential to influence and manipulate his students.

what is the young generation or the student community capable of ? - The young blood will always be on the look for a common glue to stick them all together. It is characterised by an Infinite amount of energy and spirit looking for a channel to flow across - but it never has an idea of the nature of the channel and the destination. They always need something to stay united ... a common platform, a social setup or a peer network.

what a bad home atmosphere is capable of ? - Spoilt kids - people find no space in their families to share stuff and start feeling "The Wave" as a family.

what is peer pressure capable of ? - We know this and we would have seen this amongst our own friend-circles. Peer pressure will work real wonders ... Though the nature of the cause, good or bad matters ...

what is the impact of a nation's history on a young mind ?
Germany ---> Bismarck, WW1, Hitler, The Third Reich, Berlin Wall crisis, Cold war etc. Through out the last century, Germany's society is always full of Chaos and unrest. There will always be agitated, revolutionary and radical minds in a war strewn country.
India ---> Generally a Peace loving country with utmost importance to the family setup and values. Ofcourse, the people belonging to 60s and 70s would have been student rebels and will have that spark in them - Anti-hindi agitations & the emergency.

We have seen some of these phenomenons explored beautifully in "Hazaaron Khwaishein aisi" -- a very rare movie shot with the period setup of Indian Emergency of 1975. And, Vijayakanth's final speech before the students in the Tamil film "Ramanaa" also offers an insight.

And I couldn't resist my mind travelling across various historical personalities as the movie was depicting autocracy and a fanatic-like worship of "The Wave". Some of them being Adolf Hitler, Indira Gandhi, Anti-Hindi agitations of Tamilnadu (1965) & Thaazha muthu Natarasan (immolated himself during the agitation) - Many students took active part in this agitation, Bhagat Singh - Sukhdev - Rajguru etc.

The movie definitely keeps you engrossed the whole 100 minutes, though you need to follow the English subtitles for the German conversations. And more importantly, it leaves you struck after it's over --- It kept me thinking a lot of things and painted a vivid collage of images, which I have tried reproducing above ... :)

My Recommendations ...
Rating : 3.5/5

அப்பா ...

2009-09-27T09:36:00.000-07:00

இப்பதிவு என் அப்பாவிற்கு சமர்ப்பணம்.

ஆண் பிள்ளைகளுக்கு அம்மா தான் எப்பவுமே நெருக்கம் என்பதில் எனக்கு எந்த மாற்றுக்கருத்தும் இல்லை. அன்னையிடம் அன்பையும்,தந்தையிடம் அறிவையும் பெற வேண்டும் என்கின்றனர். ஒவ்வொருவருக்கும் "என் அப்பா தான் சிறந்தவர்" என்ற பெருமையும் ... ஏன் கர்வமும் இருப்பது நியாயமானதே. அத்தகைய எனது உணர்வுகளின் நீட்சியே இப்பதிவு.

அப்பா என்பவர் சிறு வயதில் எல்லாம் எனக்கு வில்லனாகவே காட்சி தந்து பழக்கப்பட்டவர். பல முறை, தவறு ஏதேனும் செய்து விட்டால் - அம்மா மாலையில் அப்பாவின் வருகைக்காகவும், வந்தவுடன் பத்தி வைக்கவும் காத்திருந்தது இன்னும் ஞாபகம் இருக்கிறது. ஸ்கூட்டரில் செல்லும் போது GK கேள்விகள் கேட்பது, கதை சொல்வது, ரைம்ஸ் சொல்ல கேட்பது, Inswinger & Outswinger முதலியன சொல்லித்தருவது என சினிமா அப்பாக்கள் செய்த எதையும் நிச்சயமாக என் அப்பா எனக்கு செய்ததில்லை. அவர் இவை யாவற்றையும் செய்திருக்க வேண்டும் என்பது எனது எதிர்பார்ப்பாகவும் இருந்திருக்கவில்லை.

அப்பாவும் அம்மாவும் ஆரம்பத்திலேயே முடிவு செய்து கொண்டார்களாம் ... தங்களது பிள்ளைகள் இறுதி வரையில் ஆங்கில வழிப்பள்ளியிலே தான் பயில வேண்டும் என்று. அவர்களது சக்திக்கு மீறிய காரியமாகவே இது கருதப்பட்ட காலம் அது. உறவுக்காரர்கள் மற்றும் அண்டை வீட்டார்தம் சிறுவர்கள் யாவரும் அரசுப்பள்ளிக்குச்செல்ல நாங்கள் matriculation பள்ளிக்கு சென்றோம். எனக்கு நன்றாக நினைவிருக்கிறது... எந்த குடும்பசகித விழாவாயினும் சரி அல்லது எவர் வீட்டுக்கு வந்தாலும் சரி, அவர்கள் கேட்கும் முதல் கேள்வி இது தான் ... "உங்க வசதிக்கு இங்கிலீஷ் மீடியம் ஸ்கூல் தேவையா ?" ... இதற்கு சிறு புன்னகை ஒன்றையே பதிலாக தருவார் அப்பா. சென்னை போன்ற பெருநகரங்களில் எப்படி எனத்தெரியவில்லை ... 90களின் தொடக்கத்தில் ஆங்கில வழிக்கல்வி சிறுநகரங்களுக்குள் நுழைந்த புதிது என்று தான் சொல்ல வேண்டும். It's considered ELITE then ...

படிப்பு சம்மந்தமாக எது கேட்டாலும் உடனே நிறைவேற்றப்படும். Rough note books, pencils, refill-pens, inkbottle, India-Outline,political,river maps-50 each என அனைத்தையும் வருடத்தின் தொடக்கத்திலேயே வாங்கி வீட்டில் ஸ்டாக் வைத்து விடுவார் அப்பா. "அவன் திடீர்னு எதையாவது கேட்பான் ... என் வேலைகளுக்கு மத்தியில் நான் மறந்து விடுவேன் ... அதான்" - அப்பா தரும் விளக்கம்.

அப்பாவுக்கு இந்தியா சிமெண்ட்ஸ் இல் Security Departmentஇல் உத்தியோகம். "வாட்ச்மேன் பசங்க படிப்புல என்னிக்குமே கெட்டி தான்" - இன்றும் சாதரணமாக என் காதுகளில் ஒலிக்கும் வாசகம் இது. அவருடைய Chief உடைய மகளும் நான் பயின்ற பள்ளியிலேயே தான் பயின்றாள். அப்பாவுக்கு அதில் என்றுமே ஒரு பெருமையும்,திருப்தியும் உண்டு. நான் பத்தாம் மற்றும் பன்னிரெண்டாம் வகுப்பு பொதுத்தேர்வுகளில் நல்ல மதிப்பெண்கள் எடுத்திருந்ததனை அறிந்து அவருடைய boss அவருக்கு வாழ்த்துக்கள் தெரிவித்ததனை இன்றும் ஆத்மார்த்தமாக நினைவு கூர்வார். போஸ்ட் ஆபீஸ், வங்கி, தாசில்தார் ஆபீஸ் என எங்கு சென்றாலும் "உங்க பசங்க என்ன பண்ணிட்டு இருக்காங்க ?" என்ற கேள்விக்கு பூரிப்புடன் பதில் சொல்லிக்கொண்டிருக்கிறார் அப்பா.

எட்டு ஒன்பது வயதிருக்கலாம் ... '96 Wills World Cup - நாடே சச்சின் டெண்டுல்கரை கடவுளாகவும், இந்திய கிரிக்கெட் அணிக்காக கடவுளிடமும் வழிபட்டுக்கொண்டிருந்தது. எல்லாரையும் போல நமக்கும் கிரிக்கெட் ஆர்வம் ரத்தத்தில் கொப்பளித்துக் கொண்டிருந்த காலம் அது. பக்கத்துக்கு வீட்டு தவமணி டீச்சரின் புண்ணியத்தில் The Hindu செய்தித்தாள் அறிமுகமானது. Zimbabwe எனும் வார்த்தையை உச்சரிக்கவே தெரியாத காலம் அது ... Azharuddin, Manjrekar போன்ற பெயர்களை Scoreboard பார்த்து Rough note இன் பின்புறம் எழுதி வைத்துக்கொள்வேன். அப்பா தான் "The Sportstar"ஐ அறிமுகப்படுத்தினார். சிறுவர் மலர், கோகுலம் என அனைத்தையும் அனாயசமாக படித்துத்தூக்கி எறிந்து கொண்டிருந்தேன். Sportstarஇல் படங்களுக்கு கீழிருந்தவற்றை மட்டும் படிக்க ஆரம்பித்தேன். அப்பா எங்கு சென்றாலும் Sportstar வாங்கி வந்து விடுவார். Olympics, World Cup ஆகியனவற்றின் போது Special Issue வினை வாங்குவதற்காகவே ஈரோடு, சேலம் சென்று வாங்கிவந்திருக்கிறார். அவை யாவற்றினையும் இன்றும் சேமித்து வைத்திருக்கிறேன், 200-250 புத்தகங்கள் தேறும். என்னுடைய படிக்கும் ஆர்வத்திற்கு என்றுமே எண்ணெய் ஊற்றப்பார்த்திருப்பார் அப்பா.

அப்பா கம்யூனிஸ்ட், நாத்திகவாதி. யூனியன், தோழரே என வீட்டுக்கு அடிக்கடி கம்யூனிசவாதிகள் விஜயம் இருக்கும். அவர்களது பேச்சுக்கள் புரியாவிடினும் அருகில் அமர்ந்து கவனிப்பது என் வழக்கம். என்றைக்குமே அவரது நாத்திகத்தையும், கம்யூனிசத்தையும் அவர் எங்களுக்கு போதித்தது கிடையாது. தீக்கதிர், CITU செய்தி போன்ற கம்யூனிசம் சம்மந்தப்பட்ட தினசரிகளும், வார/மாத இதழ்களும் வீட்டிற்கு வரும். எதைப்படிக்கலாம் என துடித்துக்கொண்டிருந்த காலங்களில் இவற்றினையும் நான் புரட்டியிருக்கிறேன். அச்சிறுவயதினில் கம்யூனிசமும், Anti-American bashings உம் எனக்கு புரிந்திருக்க வாய்ப்பில்லை. என்றாலும் எனக்கு பிடித்த நிறம் சிவப்பாக இருப்பதற்கும், பிந்தைய காலங்களில் லெனின், ஸ்டாலின், மாவோ சே துங், ஜோதி பாசு, சே குவரா ஆகியோர் மீது ஒரு சிறு பற்றுதல் உண்டானதற்கும் காரணம் - அன்று CITU செய்தியில் வந்த அட்டைப்பட கார்ட்டூன்களும், V.P.சிந்தன் மற்றும் ஜோதி பாசுவின் வாழ்கை வரலாற்றுப்புத்தகங்களில் நான் கண்ட படங்களும் தான்.

அப்பாவுக்கு அரசியலில் ஆர்வம் அதிகம். News Channels தான் அதிக நேரம் பார்த்துக்கொண்டிருப்பார் (பல அப்பாக்கள் இப்படித்தான் போலும்). கொஞ்சம் முதிர்ந்த பருவங்களில் அவரிடம் நிறைய கேள்விகள் கேட்டிருக்கிறேன். பழைய அரசியல் மற்றும் சினிமா செய்திகள் அவர் மூலமாக எனக்கு கிடைத்திருக்கின்றன. அப்பா எம்.ஜி.ஆர் அபிமானி. எம்.ஜி.ஆர் இன் படங்கள் பெற்ற வெற்றி, கிராமங்களில் எம்.ஜி.ஆர் எனும் பிம்பத்தின் பாதிப்பு என்ன ? என பல விவாதங்கள். இந்தியாவில் ஏன் கம்யூனிசம் தழைக்கவில்லை ?, ஏன் தழைக்கவும் முடியாது ?, எம்.ஜி.ஆர் ஆல் எப்படி மூன்று முறை தொடர்ந்து முதலமைச்சர் ஆக முடிந்தது ?, இந்தியாவில் 1975இல் Emergency அமல்படுத்தப்பட்ட போது சங்ககிரியில் மாணவராக அதனை உணர முடிந்ததா ?, ஏன் வங்காள அரசியல்வாதிகள் தவிர வேறு எவரையும் நீங்கள் அரசியல் தலைவராக ஏற்க மறுக்கிறீர்கள்? போன்ற பல கேள்விகளை விவாதித்திருக்கிறோம்.

அப்பாவுக்கு ஆங்கில மருத்துவத்தின் மீது நம்பிக்கை கிடையாது. அவருக்கு Alternate medicines ஆன floral remedies, Acupuncture, Ayurveda, Homeopathy பற்றி படிக்கவும், சோதித்து பார்க்கவும் ஆர்வம் அதிகம். வீட்டில் இது தொடர்பான பல புத்தகங்களை அடுக்கி வைத்திருப்பார். அவருக்கு பிடிக்காத ஒரு விஷயம் நேரா,நேரத்திற்கு சாப்பிடாமல் இருப்பது. நேரத்திற்கு சாப்பிடுவதனால் ஏற்படும் நன்மைகளையும், அனுகூலங்களையும் பற்றி அடிக்கடி விரிவுரை ஆற்றுவார் (அதில் Salivary glands, Pancreas, digestive juices, hormones பற்றிய அனைத்து செய்திகளும் அடங்கி இருக்கும்).

அப்பாவுக்கும் அம்மாவுக்கும் சண்டை வந்தால் நான் என்றைக்குமே அம்மா பக்கம் தான். அதனாலேயே பல முறை அவர் எனக்கு வில்லனாக காட்சி தருவார்.

அப்பா எதையுமே எங்களுக்கு Spoonfeed செய்ததில்லை. மீனைத்தின்னத்தருவதை விட மீன் பிடிக்க கற்றுக்கொடுப்பவனே நல்ல ஆசானாவான். அதைத்தான் எனது தந்தையிடம் நான் உணர்கிறேன். அவர் நேரிடையாக எங்களுக்கு சொல்லித்தந்ததைவிட, பல விஷயங்களைக் கற்றுக்கொள்ளும் சூழலையும், கருவிகளையும் திறம்பட உருவாக்கித்தந்திருக்கிறார்.

இன்றைய நாட்களில் நானும் என் அப்பாவும் அதிகம் பேசிக்கொள்வது கூட கிடையாது. எனினும் அவர் என் மேல் வைத்திருக்கும் பாசத்தையும், நான் அவர் மேல் வைத்திருக்கும் மரியாதையையும் உணர்த்திக்கொள்ள ஒற்றைப்பார்வையே போதுமானது.

"அன்பிற்கும் உண்டோ அடைக்கும் தாழ்" ...

இறுதியாக விழியன் இன் கவிதை ஒன்று ...

தந்தை எவ்வழி...
நடந்த கோணல் பாதை மீதினில்
புதிதாய் சின்னஞ்சிறு பாதங்கள்...
சற்றே நடுங்கி
நிதானித்து
பத்திரமாய் எழுகின்றன கால்கள்
தொடரப்போகும் அடிகளுக்கு…

Bharathiraja & his Kadalora Kavidhaigal (1986)

2009-09-25T22:27:00.000-07:00

Cast: Satyaraj and Rekha
Directed by: Bharathiraja

Was watching Kadalora Kavidhaigal yesterday. Instead of attempting a review on a film that has been watched by 9/10 people in Tamilnadu, I shall highlight certain good aspects of the film and Bharathiraja's direction, in general.

There's always a big trouble in speaking about the classics. And especially about the films that were released more than 30 years ago and before you were born, as you were simply unaware of the society, the people, the cinema, the politics, the entertainment value etc.

En iniya thamizh makkale ... ungal paasathukkuriya Bharathiraja pesukiren ...

The story looks very simple and has become a cliched subject, these days. But the box office success of the film suggest that it was not a very common story, then. So, As in every Bharathiraja's (henceforth referred to as BR) film, the movie opens up with a salutation to the audience from BR and in a village (Muttom in this case). The male protagonist (Satyaraj) is a rough (but soft at heart, you know that right ?) Sandiyar, beating up people and be in jail more time, than at home (You can imagine, its more like Paruthiveeran's Karthi). There has to be a village belle, uncle's daughter, for whom our hero is everything (Ranjani here). There has to be some person, who should toil and convert our rough-hearted villainous hero to a soft, romantic and lover-boyyish character. In this case, it is Rekha who plays a school teacher. Then there's story, romance, Ilayaraja's wonderful BGMs and a few nice songs, twists, romantic turns, Subham ---.

This is how a beautiful and original story has become a gush-stream of cliches for the next generation because of the lack of creativity and extensive usage of the storylines of successful movies by the later directors. However, I felt the first part (involving the character sketches and romantizations) very interesting and the second half is a bit boring, tears and the usual melodrama stuff.

Satyaraj's looks and acting are so natural and he has performed the role with an effortless ease. Rekha (debutant to Tamil cinema, in this movie) looks sweet and there are no complaints on her performance too. The support cast including Janagaraj (no comedy tracks in the movie,though) and Ranjani (another debutant in this movie) are also impressive. The highlight of the movie and the USP should be Ilayaraja's score for the songs. Songs like "Adi Aaathaadi ... Ila manasonnu" and "Kodiyile Malligappoo" are famous, till this date.

Now, a look at a few general aspects of BR's Cinema ...

I consider the arrival of Bharathiraja in the tamil cinema scene very important for two reasons.
One -- He took cinema to real locations, out from studios.
Two -- His growth in the field can't be seen separately and has to be seen as the growth of a lot of skillful technicians and wonderful actors alongside.

Substantiation follows ...

BR starts his career with 16 Vayathinile which is widely considered the first film that is shot outide the studios and follows up with a lot of scripts on village backdrops. Mann Vaasanai, Kizhakke pogum Rayil, Karuthamma, Kizhakku Cheemayile till Tajmahal - he never needed sets and grand locations for his cinema.

கரிசக்காட்டு தரிசு நிலங்களையும், கருவேலா முட்செடிகளையும் அவற்றினுக்கிடையில் வாழும் அம்மண்ணின் மனிதர்களையும் வைத்து கதை சொல்ல முற்பட்ட ஒப்பற்ற கலைஞன் அவன்

Bharathiraja's films had wonderful music and soulful songs. Ilayaraja as a music director and Vairamuthu & Gangai Amaran as lyricists made it big with BR's films making it big at the box office. No, this shouldn't be seen as an underestimation of the skills of Ilayaraja and Vairamuthu. A good artiste needs no advertisement .. But all these wonderful and creative people from southern districts of Tamilnadu burst into the scene together and created self-made success stories, together. Manivannan (as a scriptwriter), K Bhagyaraj (as actor and assistant director), Parthiban and the list would keep growing. His films never banked on the star value of a particular hero/heroine. He picked up the raw-clay and shaped them into wonderful actors. And, He had this sentiment of christening his introductions with letter "R". Radhika, Radha, Revathi, Rekha, Ranjani, Ravi (Yes, Nizhalgal Ravi), Raja all acclaimed actors were introduced to the scene by Bharathiraja.

Now, Some of the personal observations ...

BR's films redefined tamil cinema, in more general terms. His fresh portrayals of romance were very innovative and his love stories never stood away from life, They are never larger than life.

மண் மீதான காதலும், மண் சார்ந்த மனிதர்களுக்கிடையில் மலர்கின்ற காதலுமே அவரது படங்களில் பிரதானப்படுத்தப்படுகின்றன.நகரம் சார்ந்த கதைகளையே திரைப்படங்கள் பேசிக்கொண்டிருந்த காலங்களில் சென்னையின் தெற்கே உலகம் ஒன்று இருப்பதையும், அவர்தம் வாழ்வினில் வடிந்தோடிய காதல், வீரம், சோகம், விருப்பு, வெறுப்பு என உணர்வுகள் அனைத்தையும் படம் பிடித்து காட்டிய கலைஞன் அவன்.

The film directors, these days run out of ideas in portraying the song sequences and thus run away into the foreign locations to divert us to the scenic beauty of those locations. Contrastingly, BR's song sequences always looked interesting, they explored beautiful village locations and his protagonists, for the most part, never danced to the tunes and diverted us that way also. His films didn't have item numbers also (Yeah .. There might be exceptions).

His films always had a limited set of characters and each characterization would be vivid and lively. All characters, big or small would leave an expression in the minds of the viewer. Silk Smitha in Alaigal Oyvathillai, Rajinikanth in 16 Vayathinile, Vadivukkarasi in Muthal Mariyathai all had a pronounced importance in the build-up of the story. And more importantly, in a hero-oriented industry known for chucking out films that encouraged hero worship, his portrayal of women is something that deserves an applause. Like Shyam Benegal's women (Bhumika, Ankur, Sardari Begum, Nishant etc), BR's portrayals of his lead-ladies were very special and full of life. They are beautiful, they are raw, they are emotional, they are honest, they had love, they had courage ... they carried every part of the human emotional structure. Radhika in Kizhakku Cheemayile, Radha in Muthal Mariyadhai, Rajashri in Karuthamma, Jayasudha in Anthimanthaarai - All stunning characterizations. And More importantly, they are never pointless eye candies and they never stood up in our minds with their sex appeal.

One more high-point of his film direction is the usage of images, symbols and allegories, metaphors & similies in dialogues etc to suggest the idea. Chess boards, small dolls & statues, posters on the wall, flowers & thorns, goats & lambs, umbrellas & rains, all had a meaning in his cinema. And they were not so intellectually complex and were simple enough to hit the minds of an ordinary film-goer.

In the early nineties, BR's films started getting attention at a national level. Karuthamma spoke a social issue - Female infanticide and fetched him a national award. Anthimanthaarai and Kizhakku Cheemayile also won him lots of critial applause. Late nineties were literally the end of his career ... "Tajmahal" and "Kangalal kaithu sei" bombed and "Bommalaattam" looked like he is back. But there was no Bharathiraja touch in it. Nevertheless, his creativity is always original and authentic and I would call him a self-made cinema genius who took tamil cinema to the next level.

Music - Last week (2)

2009-09-20T06:20:00.000-07:00

Yeah...I am gonna make this, a series like thing.
We listen to lots of songs and a variety of musical scores over a period of time...But when you sit down and give it a thought for 2 minutes, some scores flash across ... Right ?? ...

So, I thought of tracking my Listening pattern and introduce or recall some beautiful music and wonderful songs, using this space.

Here goes the list and kutty notes on each of them ...

1) Pemmanae - Aayirathil Oruvan (2009)
Two (or three rather) songs of this movie recalled the tamil grammar and the Sangam poetry, I did in my school. Spellbound by Vairamuthu's lyrics and this musical score is going to be "the break" for GVPrakash.

This song has that "haunting" score and Bombay Jayashree's voice to convey the agony of the protagonists ... No words to desribe that experience ... Very disturbing ...

2) Thaai thindra mannae - Aayirathil Oruvan (2009)
கலம்பகம், உலா, ஈறுகெட்ட எதிர்மறைப்பெயரெச்சம் - all this in a tamil film song - wow !!! Excellent choice of words and I spent some half an hour to decipher, what the song conveys.

சங்கத்தமிழில் முங்கி முத்தெடுக்கும் அனுபவம் அது ... Just listen to it

There are two versions of the song... The Cholan ecstasy and the classic version -
ஈழத்தின் அவலத்தை சிந்தையில் நிறுத்தி கண்ணீர்க்காவியமாய் பாடல்களை வடித்தெடுத்திருக்கிறார் வைரமுத்து ...

Nithyashree Mahadevan's renditions in the Cholan ecstasy version is also simply marvellous..

There should be 'n' reasons for why one (a tamilian, obviously) will be liking this song ...

3) Ippavae Ippavae & Nanba Nanba - Raman Thediya Seethai (2008)
The first one is romantic and the second one is motivational. No reasons absolutely !!! Just liked them as I listened to them, the first time.

4) Vaazhum Varai poraadu - Paadum Vaanampaadi
Yes.. This movie is a remake of "Disco Dancer" (which launched Mithun Chakraborthy to bollywood and was a great blockbuster and its tracks were instant chartbusters) but the tamil version starring Anandbabu bombed badly at the boxoffice.

But this song is a very good one.
Motivational, confidence stuff etc.

SPB's voice period.

5) Megh Peon - Titli (2002)
This is Bengali and hence its lyrics were incomprehensible.
But listen to this beautiful music here and I guarantee for no regrets.

6) Melissa OST - Bilitis (1977)
This is a BGM track and I found some similarities of this tune to Ilayaraja's BGM score for Mouna Raagam.(Might be wrong) - Great music.

7) Rangeela re - Rangeela (1995)
Well...This needs no introduction. Rangeela launched ARRahman and Urmila Matondkar [ :) ] to Bollywood, though they were theoretically present in the field previously also.

Everybody knows this musical piece and there's no point writing pages on it ...

That's all folks ...

Engineers' Way

2009-09-18T09:06:00.000-07:00

An engineer is an engineering professional concerned with developing economical and safe solutions to practical problems, by applying mathematics and scientific knowledge while considering technical constraints. That's what Wiki says about an Engineer.

Engineers have sculpted this world the way we wanted and as always, we are hungry for new stuff (Necessity is the mother of invention, you see).And No doubt, everthing you imagine is going to get materialised in the near future. Don't worry... this is not going to be on those hi-fi stuff that the engineers have given this world. This is about the day-to-day things that an Engineer will apply himself. And somebody might ask...I did Mechanical but typing out J2EE codes at XYZ now. And the answer is, Irrespective of the branch you belong and the occupation you are at, There is this Engineers' way of looking at and doing things, I beleive. There will be a considerable individuality in the way an engineer looks around and imagines stuff.

I just spurt out a few things I have noted in me (peruma !!!) and my friends, all these years that has an engineer's touch. Me being an Electronics engineer, this article might be electronics centric but you can always post a comment on how you looked at things :)

So feel proud and read ahead !!!

Search of a term in a book - You will always head towards the index pages at the end of the book, rather than looking into a chapter banking on the familiarity of that chapter in the book.

Deletion of a file in Computer - You always know deletion is all about losing the address of a pointer to the first memory location of that file. So, shift-del shouldn't take more than a second but simple deletion will create a replica of that file in the recycle bin - so it takes some time.

Laptop batteries - You know a laptop battery should be used in proper "full charge-full discharge" cycles. I always imagine it to be capacitors charging and discharging - though it might not be exactly what is happening in a battery. But, Its the way you look at things, that matter.

Digital Speedometer - I have seen people complaining the accuracy of the digital speedometer in motorbikes and the superiority of Analog speedometers over digital ones. But I always think it is "Rotation of the wheel - transducer - Analog to Digital Conversion – Digital Signal Processing - Display" in real time. You never feel like complaining about it anymore, Right ?.After all, It’s always about getting better every iteration.

Kitchens – There are instances we discussed how Induction stove works on field principles, eddy currents and all that. It might not be exactly correct but we throw in some techie terms and derive an understanding of it.

Railway Stations & Traffic Signals – Anybody with a knowledge of Finite State Machine (FSM) will realise “it’s not a big deal to design one of those red-green-yellow-light systems” around. After all, it’s only a FSM and We know what it is !!!

Computer Hangs – After working in a ASIC design & Verification environment, I never felt angry when my computer hangs. We are simply aware of how complex the system is...

You watch a movie – seek it to some point – it takes a fraction of a second to resume playing – You realise “Linked list” there.

You have the same set of speakers – But VLC player provides a 400 % volume but the other media players weren’t that loud. You can always google and find the VLC’s technology but I always try to associate it with a loop structure. The more number of times it loops, the more volume it provides. This might be an absurd imagination – But you have started imagining which is supposed to be the purpose of Education.

Flow of signals through an interconnect wire – has always been so magical to me and they suggest a new thing every while.

A plug socket or a tap or an electric stove isn’t working – Instead of panic-ing around and call a technician, you start looking through what’s happening and try to solve it on your own.

Resistive heating, fan regulators, watches, Neon lamps all will convey an engineering sense to you, unknowingly... Even if you don’t give it a thought.

No, I am not saying that you should look everything around with a scientific eye and catch some engineering sense out of it. That way, you lose the beauty of life. You can’t obviously discuss geostationary stuff and Neil Armstrong to your girlfriend who expects some poetic discussions from you on “Moon”. And, my point is this ... Unconsciously you will have that engineering sense in you. Courtesy: Your Engineering degree.

So, this is what I feel is the purpose of Engineering Education, kickstarting the Imagination and creativity. And every Engineer will have it nurtured in him unknowingly and unnoticeably.

This post was supposed to be published on the Engineer’s day, 15th of September (Sir M.Visweswaraya’s birthday). It’s a bit late ... :)

Cheran's Pokkisham - Review

2009-09-18T04:31:00.000-07:00

Pokkisham (2009) - Film Review

wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pokkisham

Directed by: Cheran
Cast: Cheran and Padmapriya

Postal communication is something which doesn't belong to our generation, I feel. How many letters have you written in all your life ??.If you are born after 1985,the number won't even cross 30, I bet and I assume no one is going to communicate a thing via letters here after. And love letters ? :)

Cheran's Pokkisham is all about love letters. One fine morning, a son opens up his father's trunk suitcase and reads the letters that his father has (preserved - got the title !!!) received from his love.Lenin (Cheran) is a marine engineer working at Calcutta (in 1970s, Yeah this one’s a period flick) and Nadheera (Padmapriya) is a Tamil literature student at Nagapattinam.Love blossoms and they reciprocate and express it via letters (Which is the only mode of communication in 70s...Trunk call facilities were in their infancy in India,then).

The movie is more like a novel read aloud... after all it is about love letters read aloud. A few twists, turns, communalism, Sentiments and I am not going to spoil the fun...Give it a watch and enjoy.I just wish to comment on a few aspects of the movie.

Calcutta – Calcutta always has an artistic and literary sense attached to it. May be because,it has been the home of a lot of artists and artistes like Rabindranath Tagore, SD Burman, Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen etc.I don’t know if its universal but a mere mention of this name brings in me the beautiful images of Howrah bridge and Goddess Durga(yellow faced deity). Pokkisham has tried to emulate Calcutta in 70s with the railway trams, hand-pulled rickshaws, Howrah bridge,Victoria Memorial,Durga pooja festive atmosphere and all.

Period Settings – Bullock carts,old-styled motor cycles and the Government bus etc are a few things I noted at the first viewing, with regards to the period settings.One more thing that captivated me is the look of the post box.The post boxes of the olden days are a bit odd in structure and guess what...The IISc (Indian Institute of Science,Bangalore) campus still has one of the post boxes (near the main building) of this style & looks.

Communism – Speak of Bengal and Communism naturally walks in. There has been a lot of mention of the communism and its principles through out. The name of the protagonist-Lenin, discussion of communism by the lead actors - Lenin and Nadheera, Lenin’s father claims that he is a communist, Ilavarasu who appears as Cheran’s neighbour in the movie discusses communism. It gives out a feeling that Cheran must be an admirer of communist principles. Also, 70s are a period of political unrest followed by restructuring in India and Bengal especially. Emergency, Jayaprakash Narayan, Jyothi Basu as CM in Bengal - all happened in 70s.That might also be one of the reasons for the underlining of communism throughout - Personal opinion.

Wavelength match – Imagine you get a soulmate who has a wide panoramic view of the world around. Be it literature, arts, politics, views on society,views on communalism and communism, ideas on the role of a woman in a modern society and lots more.Fit them all in a beautiful damsel and you get Nadheera. Precisely, that’s how her character is shaped in the film.Lenin and Nadheera discuss a lot of these stuff in the movie and you envy their chemistry.This is what I call the “wavelength match”.

Dialogues – Its poetry in simple terms. Lots of refreshing new dialogues and fresh ideas. Of course,the subject of the movie – love letters, offers a lot of scope and Cheran enthralls us with an array of wonderful poetry.Love beautiful romantic verses in tamil ?, then you have got to love the dialogues of this movie.

Songs & Musical score – Songs in the movie never distract you from the course and they just gel with the storyline - they never look like inserted-upons. Introduction song, bar item song, unnecessary duets at foreign locations are something you won’t see in a Cheran film. One of the song situation in the movie is, the protagonist is travelling in a bus or train - his anxiety to meet his love is conveyed by the song. This way,they never looked misplaced.But there were no catchy melodies that will find your memory’s cache.And the background score is less than impressive.

Photography – The cinematography is very impressive. The song sequences picturise a lot of Rains and vivid images.I just felt like it’s raining outside my house.It looks that natural and Beautiful !!!

Cheran ~ Miscast ? – Cheran seemed to be a miscast for this wonderful and poetic script. He tries to portray a young and dynamic youth in his early twenties – but this doesn’t seem to work all fine with his aged persona.I know that no prominent actor of the tamil cinema are willing to do Cheran’s scripts but he can always find a new face and introduce him. And Padmapriya looks fine as a muslim girl.But after watching Maniratnam’s Bombay, whenever I see a muslim girl role in any movie – I always felt Manisha Koirala, the perfect choice – Personal view anyways.

Length of the film – The movie runs more than 160 minutes and rests on dialogues and poetic verses.No doubt, It is intense and gripping but I see no reason an ordinary filmgoer would be interested in this flick. Cheran hit that magical dart in his Autograph (2004) but seemed to have lost touch now. He has to be a bit-more novel to this next gen audience,I feel.

Cheran’s films always have some value attached to it, instead of being a regular masala heap. However the going seems tough for him with his last three films (Thavamai Thavamirundhu (2005), Mayakannadi (2007),Pokkisham (2009) ) receiving a not-so-big response. I liked two of them except Mayakannadi. But,We need directors like him to try out sensible scripts to keep our cinema alive.

Recommended...
Rating: 3.5/5

Music - Last Week

2009-09-13T11:50:00.000-07:00

The blog has become more of a diary to document what you like and its a creative medium to share what you liked.I was listening to a few songs repeatedly [தேய்க்கிறது,as we call it..well,it means listening to the same song again and again,till one of the bits of the digital information gets corrupt :) ] last week and am listing them down.

I was trying to derive a common thread that will define my listening pattern,but there has been none.I would be happy if someone reading this gets hit by the famous "Ahh...I also love this track !!" feeling and derive an instant urge to listen to any of these songs.

Over to the songs (And twitter style notes on each of them)...

1) Vaaranam Aayiram 2008 - Oh Anbe BGM
"When I see the love light in her eye,then the darkness fades" - Intensely romantic.

2) Satya 1998 - Baadalon se
This song is just seductive.The male voice is magical...Its Bhupinder Singh's (Just Googled it).Hindi poetry don't make much of a sense to me because of the lack of the mastery of the language,but still this song conveys the sense with its music and Bhupinder's voice.

3) A Beautiful Mind 2001 - A Kaleidoscope of mathematics BGM
"Now,who among you will be the next Morse,the next Einstein...who among you will be the vanguard of democracy,freedom and discovery? Today we bequeath America's future into your able hands. Welcome to Princeton, gentlemen. ".
Princeton University,John Nash,Game theory and what not - this BGM carries everything with it...

4) Happy days 2007 - Oh My friend
This movie as well as its' music gets very special as it connects me to the BH-1 and BH-2 corridors[BITS-Goa Hostels].And My balcony mate is from AP ... :)

5) Panneer Pushpangal 1981 - Kodaikaala kaatre
Sweet tamil song of the golden 80s.Panneer Pushpangal is a beautiful high school romance and this song has awesome lyrics...

6) Mughal e Azam 1960 - Pyar kiya to darna kiya
Watch Madhubala dance to this tune at youtube and this song adds one more fan to its list.This song has really stood the test of the time and this movie also for that matter.

7) Chudalani vundi 1998 - Yamahanagari
Bengal - the Mecca of arts and culture...This song just glorifies Bengal and Calcutta.Tagore,Satyajit Ray,Mother Teresa,Kali, Chowringhee...It speaks of everything.Wonderful music and Vamsi used to describe Chiranjeevi's dancing mastery to me when we were in the second year of college,quoting this song also as an example.

That's all..Comments please !!!

The Bridges of Madison County - Film Review

2009-09-13T10:49:00.000-07:00

imdb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112579/

Starring: Clint Eastwood & Meryl Streep
Directed by: Clint Eastwood

Love is that magical string that keeps this world intact,by keeping Everyone's world intact.The Bridges of Madison County is a very mature love story between mature people,based on the 1992 best-selling novel by Robert James Waller with the same title.The film has Clint Eastwood and Meryl Steep,two of the most accomplished actors of the last century,in lead roles.

Francesca Johnson(Meryl Streep),a married lady with children meets Robert Kincaid(Clint Eastwood),a photographer who is on his assignment to the Iowa state for a photo feature.They develop instant affinity towards each other,discuss a variety of things and fall for each other.They spend four days together as Francesca's husband and children are out for a state fair and then part each other.Francesca preserves her love for Robert ,documents her love in her diary and leaves it for her children.The movie actually unfolds as her children read her notebooks.

The film can be aptfully summarised with the following poem by Lord Byron.The poem will be featuring in the film also.Since I liked it so much,I am reproducing it here.

There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,
There is a rapture on the lonely shore,
There is society, where none intrudes,
By the deep sea, and music in its roar:
I love not man the less, but Nature more,
From these our interviews, in which I steal
From all I may be, or have been before,
To mingle with the Universe, and feel
What I can ne'er express, yet cannot all conceal.

-- Lord Byron

The film features some of the intense and beautiful romantic lines you would have ever come across in films.

"I don't think obsessions have reasons.That's why they're obsessions."

"But this kind of certainty comes just once in a lifetime."

"Do what you have to be happy in this life,There is so much beauty...Go well, my children."

offer a few examples.

Clint Eastwood as a director is getting better like a old wine.Ofcourse, there are better examples like "Letters from Iwo Jima" and we all know his Oscar winning "Million Dollar baby"...But this one's no-less.

The cinematography is awesomely great capturing some of the beautiful images of the Iowa state...Poetry on celluloid.I need not substantiate the performances of the lead actors and it would be re-stating the obvious.This is a very mild and dialogue-centric story and doesn't require a lot of acting assignments.However, Meryl received a Academy nomination for the film for "Best Actress in a lead role".

The film is generally slow and you don't have a lot happening on screen except a middle-aged lady and an old-man talk,understand each other and fall in love.
Watch it as Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep share the screen-space and for its insightful and beautiful dialogues.

Rating: 2.5/5

Anthony Hopkins,Ventriloquism - Scared ??

2009-09-11T12:07:00.000-07:00

Magic (1978) - Film Review

imdb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077889/

Starring: Anthony Hopkins & Ann-Margaret
Directed by: Richard Attenborough

When I first watched "Avargal" (A tamil film starring Kamalhaasan and Rajinikanth),one of the most important aspects that captivated me is the ventriloquist-dummy of Kamalhaasan.I had a natural inclination for cinema exploring this complex psychological phenomena,Ventriloquism.And "Magic" is one of the rare films that deal with this and will definitely leave you with a horrified psychological experience.

Corky (Hopkins) is a amateur magician performing card-tricks.He is a failure as a magician until he gets the audience's attention with his dummy (Fats - Corky's ventriloquist dummy).He is about to turn pro of some kind but develops a psychological complex and intentionally shy away from his professional success.The story gets personal from here on - he meets his childhood sweetheart Peggy (Ann-Margaret),gets more involved with his dummy that eventually takes control of him - will form the rest of the plot.

There is Ventriloquism,there is Multiple Personality Disorder ... All these are explored in a lot of movies.Fundamentally,they are the same and they only differ in the way it is expressed by the patient(or the victim).Any discussions and debates are welcome in the comments section ... OPEN :)

There's absolutely no cats or crows or ghosts to horrify oneself in this movie.Its the mental trauma of the protagonist and a gripping music that will create a eerie shell around and will develop a mental disturbance in you.The film has to comfortably rest on the performance of the lead actor and Hopkin's performance and facial expressions are greatly appropriate.Ofcourse, we know him through his more popular later films,as Hannibal Lecter.

The film is technically great - Camerawork,Music,Editing - Brand Attenborough throughout.

So...Why Pick up the DVD?
Richard Attenborough - We know him for his biopics and historical films.Watch him direct a thriller.
Anthony Hopkins - Deserves atleast a Academy award nomination and this one is greatly under-rated at the imdb also.He horrifies us and himself as well.Top Notch...
And then there's Ann-Margaret - As gorgeous as ever :)

Recommended...
Rating: 3.5/5

55th National Film Awards - Highlights

2009-09-09T11:19:00.000-07:00

So...It's official...Prakashraj is a better actor than the Khans and Tamil Cinema is frequently under the Awards scanner now...Priyamani last year and Prakash raj this year.Prakash raj has scored the sixth national award for the Best actor,for tamil cinema.MGR,Kamal Haasan(thrice)and Vikram are the others.Its real sad that Kamal hasn't picked up National awards for many of his masterpieces like Pushpak,Hey Ram,Anbae Sivam etc. :(

And Kanchivaram - Best film.Its only the second instance,where a tamil film is getting the Swarna Kamal for the Best Film.And for a industry that produces around 120 films every year... :(

Veterans like Adoor Gopalakrishnan and Girish Kasaravalli are still delivering good and meaningful cinema and Adoor walked with his Seventh National award.For a career spanning almost 40 years,Adoor has directed less than 15 feature films and seven national awards !!!.Kasaravalli's lady-lead in Gulabi-Talkies,Umashree wins the Best Actress award.

And Chak De!India - Popular film - Justified.

Gnana Rajasekaran's Periyar is the best feature film in Tamil.Films like these need to be encouraged,because biopics are a brand of cinema which pass the historical greats to the posterity.Biopics are a rare phenomenon in India...Indira Gandhi,Nehru,Dhyan chand,Kapil Dev,Satyajit Ray,MS Subbulakshmi...Icons galore but no films :(

I don't know how many have heard about Tingya,a marathi feature which has silently made giant strides at many International film festivals.Have been trying to grab a copy of it,in vain.Tingya's lead Sharad Goekar is the Best child artiste.

Shreya Ghoshal is with Three national awards for the best playback-female now and has equalled Lata Mangeshkar.The iconic Asha Bhonsle has only two.However,Our Chinnakkuyil Chithra with Six is still ahead. :)
Buck up Shreya !!!

And last but not least...Sivaji the Boss,with all its big budget and grand production scales has justified them and has won the award for Best Special Effects.

Videsh:Heaven on Earth (2008) - Surrealism !!!

2009-09-09T10:04:00.000-07:00

Videsh:Heaven on Earth (2008) - Film review

imdb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1146285/

Starring: Preity Zinta and Vansh Bhardwaj
Director: Deepa Mehta

Preity Zinta in an international film !!!...that creates interest,Right ??
Then,there's Deepa Mehta - Fire,Earth,Water ... That should be enough to make the film a compelling watch.

Yeah...Preity and Deepa aren't letting us down and offer a complete cinema,and provide us a great surrealistic experience.The film as such is very imaginative and Preity has delivered her best performance till-date (Has won a couple of awards at International film festivals).

Chand(Preity Zinta) as a young and beautiful (as Moon{dimpled Moon!}) punjabi bride leaves for Canada from India.An abusive husband and not-so caring family - The movie travels along the lines of "47 Naatkal" and "Not Without my daughter" (i.e) Woman trapped and harassed by her husband,in a foreign country.

When you realise,you know the story-line,comes a surprising surrealistic track which you will never imagine.As chand is struck down by despair and loneliness,her friend at her workplace provides her a magical root that is supposed to seduce the one who takes it towards the one who gives it.And then,there is Black Cobra,Surrealism - Both Chand and the audience are trying to comprehend what is happening...And things fall into place towards the end.

We never knew Preity can act to this magnitude.She just fits the role as a punjabi bride,hand in glove (Thanks to IPL and Preity's Franchise Kings XI Punjab...kidding and Preity has that natural punjabi looks in her).You'll naturally listen to the pounding of your heart,when she is harassed by her husband.There are no other well-known actors in the cast department but as an ensemble - they deliver the idea right.

Then,there's a punjabi wedding ceremony in the beginning of the movie.This has become more of a trend in the diasporic films directed by Indian directors.Bend it like Beckam,Mississippi masala,Monsoon wedding offer a few examples.I think,the west really love to see Indian weddings on-screen. Gold,Orange,Yellow,garlands,Marigolds,music and dances have become more of a cliche for us now.See the above mentioned films and you should probably agree my point. :)

Wonderful Cinematography...Alternating Color and grained-Black & White.
Not much of a Background music - yet the movie is not silent - Very lively.

Good piece of art - Don't apply in the logical theories.Travel with it and this one will entertain you .. Recommended.

Rate - 3/5

Once (2006) - Musical Delight

2009-09-07T18:55:00.000-07:00

Once (2006) - Film review
imdb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0907657/

Starring: Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová
Director: John Carney
Original Music: Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová

"How often do you find the right person ?" is the tagline of the movie.That summarises the entire idea of this very sweet musical that runs for around 80 minutes.

The protagonist is a street-singer,guitarist.He meets a girl who develops an instant love for his music.He works in a hoover shop and she sells flowers & works in a musical instruments shop(she plays piano too).Each have their personal problems,yet Music binds them.They convert the love they had(and still have) for their soulmates(ex-lovers) into romance-ridden lyrics and beautiful music.They spend one week together,knowing each other,forming a band,recording songs and then,they part each other.There is no place for this general cliche of both running into each other.

The movie rests on a single thread,the resonance between them.In more general terms,we would have discussed something called "Wavelength Match",that's what it is.Both of them are musicians,they love music and music renders hope,music renders life.The movie ends on a very positive note and each live happily ever after.

There's not much of a technical excellence in the making.The movie looks like shot in a digital camera in a few places and there are quite a few blurs and a lot of shakes of the camera.The astounding strength is the music and the tracks are really good.The lead actors Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová have given the original musical score for the film.

One of the best photographic shots in the movie

The movie,to be more precise,looks like a musical album that has a few dialogue-interludes.The tracks are very simple and melodies,generally.They aren't generated in a computer-mix or with metal & drums.Simple guitar chords and piano mix provides a soothing experience and the music will definitely stay in oneself and will sway you to its tunes.One of the tracks won the Academy award for Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song,too.

Music all the way...Nothing else to boast about.An interesting one-line plot but not a great ending.Start it one hour before you sleep and Just surrender yourself for 80 minutes.Get happily lost into a pleasant musical melodrama.

Film - 2.5/5
Music - 4/5

Dont count the number of times the word music is used in this post..because this movie is all about music.

Godmother (1999) - Rambhiben ki Jay !!!

2009-09-06T11:50:00.000-07:00

Godmother (1999) - Film Review
imdb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0233808/

Starring : Shabana Azmi,Milind Gunaji,Raima Sen.

Most in this world have appreciated Francis Coppola's "The Godfather",in its original form and if not,have witnessed it in some other forms.Such was the influence that this timeless classic has on the filmmakers and it radically restructured the film theory,in general.

Can a woman be a power-center,can she be a influencing political figure,How will she don a mafiosi ... If a marvellous actress like Shabana Azmi can do it with effortless ease on-screen,It's always a treat to watch and mind you,Shabana won the National Award for the Best-Actress for Godmother in 1999,her fifth and the most recent one.

The film starts in a drought-hit village/terrain/plains in Gujarat and offers several dry but colourful and captivating images.The protagonist couple, Veeram(Milind)and Rambhi(Shabana) are planning to leave the village,reluctantly.They reach a nearby town and here,Veeram achieves a cult status and influential & faithful following among his community people with all his saviour acts.There's a lot of communalism portrayed in the film and how this communal unity has been utilised for the political gains of the people at the top,is shown through-out.

Rambhi(Shabana)has been a humble and calm housewife,bringing up her newborn and kitchen-stuff for almost half the movie.Veeram gets murdered and Rambhi becomes the power-center.From here on,Shabana takes control and carries the film with her.The transition from the housewife to a powerful panchayat leader is portrayed in a two-minute sequence and it is awesome.And like "The Godfather" and "Nayagan", there's a vendetta sequence portraying cruel murders of the people,who killed her husband.

Rambhi has a son,his love for Sejal(Raima Sen),Sejal's love with a muslim guy,Communal riots,Rambhi's justice,Rambhi's sacrifice and all that forms the rest of the story.There's nothing great or novel with the film's plot or screenplay.The only thing that is worth discussing is Shabana's performance throughout the film and especially after she becomes the power-center of her village.She has worked well on the walking styles(she just walks like a man,shedding off the female Nalina)and body language.

There are many other impressive characterisations and performances but they get effectively masked by Rambhiben's (Shabana) image and personality cult.It was a real pain to see a naive and amateurish performance from Raima Sen sharing the screenspace with iconic Shabana.Aged Shabana Azmi looking old in the first part of the movie,was a negative aspect.

The cinematogaphy captured everything in its true sense and color and there were lots of close-up shots in the movie,studying the faces of the protagonist and the support-cast.With the actors,emoting right with the eyes and facial expressions,the idea didn't sound bad.

This is not an absolute off-beat film or a serious parallel cinema stuff.The film has its own dramatizations,share of cliches,one or two bollywood-ish song sequences,communal riots and all that.Recommended for Shabana Azmi's fans,who would like to watch her,do a DON.

Rating:2.5/5

Finally, Just for fun...A Maggi ad... :)

UNIVERSITY & TEACHER !!!

2009-09-06T03:37:00.000-07:00

The source for this post is actually an inscription,that I found at one of the walls of Sir M.Visweswaraya Institute of Technology (MVIT),Bangalore.Had been there for the DRDO test.I took a piece of paper and noted it down,there only.

It reads so...(And it was real sad that this gem of a thought was painted there with quite a few spell-errors).

A University is essentially a co-operation of teachers and students and the relation between the two is of a sacred character.A University is not a mere information shop,it's a place where a man's intellect,will and emotions are disciplined.The university is a sanctuary of the intellectual life of the country and pursuit of knowledge is the soul of the university.Magnificent buildings and equipments are no substitute for the great teacher.

-Dr.S.Radhakrishnan

How true !!! and the last line captivated me,so much.

As our country's education infrastructure is under a wonderful phase of development with lots of IITs,NITs and BITS-Pilani campuses,India is facing a real dearth of good teachers.I have one of my friends who is lecturing at a college for Bachelors degree students with a Bachelor's degree.

Let's churn out some statistics ...

The UN Rao committee has pointed out that India had a huge shortage of teachers for engineering. For instance in 2000-01, Indian engineering institutions required Total 60,970 teachers, broken down into: 8,710 professors, 17,420 readers and 34,840 lecturers.
In terms of professional qualifications, what was required were 26,130 Ph Ds and 34,840 M Techs.
What was available however, were 5,862 Ph Ds and 11,035 MTech’s.

That's a shortfall of around 70 per cent, a figure that's more than doubled over the decade. So one can imagine the quality of students being churned out.

Premier Institutions like IITs have a huge number of unfilled faculty positions and I myself have some experiences of being taught by teachers with a Bachelor's degree.A real saddening state and whenever I realise myself,being short technically,my mind would start blaming the teachers I had at my college.Yeah...we can dismiss this one as mere escapism of a lazy student who hasn't done his classwork and learning at college.

But what,then is the role of a teacher at the University ?

Dr.S.Radhakrishnan,again comes to our rescue...

* The teacher's duty is not only to acquaint the students, with the subjects and the subject matter, principles and generalization, but also to inculcate in them a sense of research and habit of free and impartial judgement.

* It is the main duty of the teachers to inculcate interest in his pupil for the subject, which he teaches. A teacher who is not aware of the latest development or advancement and who does not have independent thinking and ideas about his duties cannot infuse the desire of love for truth in his pupil.

The teachers,nowadays fail in their attempt to teach and explain the subject matter satisfactorily,leave apart the research sense and all that.A teacher need not necessarily explain all the syllabus to his students but he should be able to ignite the minds of his students,inculcate passion towards the subject and more importantly,he should be potent enough to inspire his wards.On a saddening note,none of the above are happening at the modern day engineering class-rooms.

IITs and other premier engineering Institutes are having a good number of experienced professors but there is a visible shortage of second rung of good professors.Over the next decade,it may not be a wonder if there's a exponential drop in the quality of student output from our universities.

So...Where do we fall short ?
In a nation which had iconic professors like Dr.S.Radhakrishnan, Sir.C.V.Raman, Prof.Satish Dhawan and the likes, why is this trauma ??

I would like to share a few thoughts on this regard...

1) Research Infrastructure at the University campuses

Have a look at the university websites of premier grad schools like Stanford, Berkeley or any top US university...You are sure to hit a considerable number of Indian professors there.After spending years on a Doctorate,which science-inclined person will be ready to work in a Indian university,which has sub-standard research facilities and infrastructure.Everybody has got to be selfish someways and nobody wants to ruin their careers.Except the IITs and IISc,how many universities in India have a decent device fabrication laboratory in their campuses.So,our brains drain into the west and in-turn our creamy student layer also ends up there,leaving behind a big hole in our education and knowledge setup.

Absence of good professors at the universities will create a sub-standard student community and this becomes a vicious circle.Over 90% of the students complete their coursework and graduate from the college without (any...yeah ANY)understanding of say..Automata theory,Quantum mechanics or Semiconductor device physics.

2) The Information Technology Boom

IT's arrival in the 90s has gradually inculcated a sense of negligence and carelessness in the learning patterns of the student community.Learn Java,code in .NET and do something creative in Photoshop and you end up with a real job that's gonna offer you more than 35k per month.Why to take pains with your coursework...why to understand turbines and gears,Diodes and opamps,Automata and Turing machine.This is a dangerous trend that has already infiltrated the colleges and universities.This way,a lot of people graduate out from college with a very little technical knowledge in their chosen program of study.Simulators and programming languages have really eaten up the valuable teaching,learning and experimentation time,where real knowledge transfer and acquisition will happen.The will and skill to contribute to science and teaching is seemingly absent in even,the top rankers of the university.

So...Somebody might ask...we know all this young man...Got any solution ??
And my answer will be NO.If a 23 year old can provide solutions for these problems of mammoth magnitude,then why is Dr.APJ Abdul Kalam still trying to put forward his dreams of India being all-potent in 2020.

I will take this oppurtunity to thank and gratify some of my teachers who inspired me,all these years.

Mr.Sivakumar - Taught Biology at school - Taught the art and life behind Amoeba and Mammalian heart with astounding ease.
Mr.SAR Arumugam - Taught Physics at school - Spoke Kalam,Universe,Stars and Big-bang theory in an inspiring manner.
Miss.Manimegalai - Taught English grammar - she developed an intuitive way of writing error-free sentences,in me.
Prof.Raghunath Behera - Chemistry at University - he always stresses the research aptitude and scientific temper - Most respectable person in my college life.

A real less Number of people...considering 19 years of learning...Thats the state of affairs.

June 12, 2009 - An eventful day ...

2009-06-22T09:14:00.000-07:00

June 12th,2009 has been an eventful day for me for various reasons.The reasons for celebrating this day are more than one,in my case and this blog will share them with you.

1) DTV Transition:
The first reason is that a wholesome "Transition to Digital TV" is complete in the US on this historic day and from this date on, we bid a farewell to the Analog broadcast and the TV Stations will only broadcast digital signals.The DTV is going to revolutionize the TV watching experience round the globe and get ready to enjoy television with better picture and sound quality.

The switch from analog to digital broadcast television is referred to as the digital TV (DTV) transition. In 1996, the U.S. Congress authorized the distribution of an additional broadcast channel to each broadcast TV station so that they could start a digital broadcast channel while simultaneously continuing their analog broadcast channel. Later, Congress set June 12, 2009 as the final date that full power television stations can broadcast analog signals. As of June 13, 2009, full power television stations will only broadcast digital, over-the-air signals.

As of now, the principal advantages of DTV that are discussed are superior audio and video quality compared to the analog broadcast and the "Multicasting".Google "multicasting" for details :)

This website http://www.dtv.gov/ provides the entire details about this DTV Transition and go through it if interested.

Its in the US and what has it got to do with India, might be the next question.The point is,the technology has arrived and is on the way and it won't take much time before India embraces the DTV broadcast.The count down begins...

And on my part, I am already a part of this revolution as I have worked on the Memory Controller that goes into the DTV Chip,manufactured by Broadcom (During my final year project with Broadcom) and this makes it more special. :)

2) BCM 7420 Tapeout
I am not a part of Broadcom anymore but BCM 7420 happens to be the first chip(designed by Broadcom) that I worked on in my professional career.Its a Set-Top box chip and during my one year tenure at Broadcom,I witnessed its design and verification from the head (neck atleast) till toes and the chip tapes-out on this day 12th June,2009.Tape-out is an event that marks the departure of the design from the Software format(Netlist) to the hardware format(to the foundry).

Since this guy(BCM 7420) happens to be the first chip I have kept my hands on, he is so special for me.

3) BITS Pilani recognises me as an Engineer !!!
Last but not least,this day has gotta be so special personally.I graduate out from my college with a M.Sc and a B.E degree.It's the final day of my PS-II and BITS-Pilani proudly launches another batch of engineers (of around 1000 people) to the country and I am one among them.

Its a great day that shouldn't be forgotten...

William Shockley's Interview Question @ Shockley Semiconductor Lab

2009-06-03T02:52:00.000-07:00

In August 1957 William Shockley was recruiting staff for his Palo
Alto, California, start-up, Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory. Shockley had been part of the Bell Labs team that invented the transistor. He had quit his job and come west to start his own company, telling people his goal was to make a million dollars. Everyone thought he was crazy. Shockley knew he wasn't. Unlike a lot of the people at Bell Labs, he knew the transistor was going to be big.

William Shockley(seated),John Bardeen and Walter Brattain,1948 - Bell Labs

Shockley had an idea about how to make transistors cheaply. He was going to fabricate them out of silicon. He had come to this valley, south of San Francisco, to start production.He felt like he was on the cusp of history, in the right place at the right time. All that he needed was the right people. Shockley was leaving nothing to chance.

Today's interview was with Jim Gibbons. He was a young guy, early twenties. He already had a Stanford Ph.D. He had studied at Cambridge too - on a Fulbright scholarship he'd won. Gibbons was sitting in front of him right now, in Shockley's Quonset hut office. Shockley picked up his stopwatch.

There's a tennis tournament with one hundred twenty-
seven players, Shockley began, in measured tones. You've got one hundred twenty-six people paired off in sixty-three matches, plus one unpaired player as a bye. In the next round, there are sixty-four players and thirty-two matches. How many matches, total, does it take to determine a winner?

Shockley started the stopwatch.

The hand had not gone far when Gibbons replied:
One hundred twenty-six.

How did you do that?
Shockley wanted to know. Have you heard this before?

Gibbons explained simply that it takes one match to eliminate one player. One hundred twenty-six players have to be eliminated to leave one winner. Therefore, there have to be 126 matches.

Shockley almost threw a tantrum. That was how he would have solved the problem, he told Gibbons. Gibbons had the distinct impression that Shockley did not care for other people using "his" method.

Shockley posed the next puzzle and clicked the stop-watch again. This one was harder for Gibbons. He thought a long time without answering. He noticed that, with each passing second, the room's atmosphere grew less tense.

Shockley,seething at the previous answer, now relaxed like a man sinking into a hot bath. Finally, Shockley clicked off the stopwatch and said that Gibbons had already taken twice the lab average time to answer the question. He reported this with charitable satisfaction. Gibbons was hired.

Excerpt from: How would you move Mount Fuji?: Microsoft's cult of the puzzle : how the world's smartest companies select the most creative thinkers by William Poundstone.

OCES/DGFS - 2009 (Electronics)

2009-05-25T10:43:00.000-07:00

I tried to steal from my memory, the questions I encountered at the OCES/DGFS exam 2009.These are a part of the screening test,which is a objective written test of 2 hours duration.There were a total of 100 questions,completely on Electronics only.No questions on Engineering maths and aptitude questions.

1) Thin film transistors are made up of ___
2) XOR gate acts as the inverter if one of the inputs is tied to one.
3) Skin depth - Frequency of the signal determines determines the depth of the EM wave in the metal.
4) VHDL - Declaration of entity is compulsory.
5) Modulation is required for having practical Antenna diamensions.
6) Minterm is each square in the K-map.
7) matched pair of transistors are absolutely essential for differential pair amplifier.
8) DACs and ADCs - Successive approximation type and flash type.
9) Dependence of the KVA rating of the transformer on the frequency.
10) Number of address lines that are required to address a certain nth memory location.
11) 2's complement arithmetic - how many numbers can we represent etc.
12) Order of the given IIR filter
13) Ebers-Moll equation is used in BJTs
14) self-inductance,Mutual inductance,coil,Number of turns etc.
15) Transmission lines - Conditions for Distortionless and lossless transmission line.
16) VSWR - Problem on the VSWR given the characteristic impedance of the line and the load impedance.
17) Silicon can't be used in LEDs - why ??
18) Direct bandgap and indirect bandgap semiconductors.
19) ADC Resolution calculation - provided full scale voltage and the percentage of error in output tolerance.
20) Single multiplying DAC is used in ___
21) binary to decimal decoder uses which kind of logic.
22) In BCD, each decimal is represented by a nibble.
23) stacks in a microprocessor can be accessed via sequential access.
24) Function of program counter in a microprocessor is __
25) Instruction cycle of the microprocessor.
26) ECL is faster - why ??
27) In intrinsic semiconductor,the current flow is due to __
28) Functions of ALE,READY signal etc in 8085 Microprocessor.
29) The stack implementation in 8085 MP is __
30) Correlation,auto-correlation and cross-correlation.
31) Anti-aliasing filter is __
32) Hall effect.
33) Conduction band and valence band of semiconductor.
34) Diode circuits - Fullwave and halfwave rectifiers.
35) Opamp circuits - Summing amplifier.
36) The purpose of the coupling capacitor in the amplifier output.
37) 32 to 1 mux - implemented using 8 to 1 mux and 4 to 1 mux.
38) Unique properties and advantages with the various logic families like ECL,TTL etc.
39) A question on Potentiometer and a question on temperature sensors.
40) A typical design flow of an ASIC chip.
41) stages in the synthesis and various inputs to the synthesis.
42) Problem related to the percentage of modulation and the side bands power and carrier power etc.
43) A few problems on basic circuit theory - calculation of currents and voltages in a network.
44) A problem on D-flipflop in which the Q` (Q bar) is fed as the input D to the flop.

That's all folks ...

Dominant Phenomenons of Tamil Cinema

2009-05-06T22:42:00.000-07:00

Tamil talkie has celebrated 75 years of its Existence last year and Sun TV screened a host of great classics in view of this,last year.I attempted to identify certain dominant phenomenons in our cinema during this 75 year old history.

This account by me might not be a comprehensive one keeping in view that the cinema of a period is largely driven by the socio-economic and political scenario of that period and the expectations of the audience.The following write-up is just an extrapolated interpretation of my understanding of tamil cinema and is sure to have quite a few shortcomings.

1930s to 1940s - Stage plays & Bhajans

Pre-independence era saw movies being used for the propaganda against the British imperialism [Haven't seen any of them...but hearsays and literature say so].Also,we get to see a lot of films in which Gods/dharma up against the Asuras/Adharma.In simpler terms,the films of this period are just minute extensions of the stage-plays and they were absolute dramas.Lengthy dialogues & loud deliverance of the lines and a huge number of songs are characteristics of the Pre-50s cinema.

Haridas - 3 Diwalis at Chennai Broadway

MKThyagaraja Bhagavathar,KBSundarambal and PUChinnappa are considered notable actors of the era.Tamil Cinema's first known comedian NSKrishnan and his wife TA Madhuram gave socially important messages with the comedy tracks.Thyagaraja Bhagavathar's (MKT) "Haridas" successfully completed three diwalis in the Chennai Broadway Cinema hall and MKT is widely regarded as the first superstar of Tamil Cinema.

1950s - Dravidian Propaganda

50s were a period of social renaissance and the Dravidian movement grew leaps and bounds in stature and political satires are a characteristic of 50s cinema. "Parasakthi","Manohara","Naadodi Mannan" are a few important films on this regard.These films are sensational hits and elevated Kalaignar Karunanidhi,the dialogue writer to a superstar status."Parasakthi" marked the entry of Sivaji Ganesan and its courtroom sequence is still remembered for its fiery and satirical dialogues.

Gunasekaran(Sivaji Ganesan) court scene - Parasakthi

Dialogues got their due importance only after Kalaignar happened to the tamil cinema.Annadurai and Kalaignar,both gifted writers and orators took tamil cinema and politics to great heights and used Cinema as a party propaganda vehicle with astounding success.

1960s - MGR,Sivaji & Gemini

60s saw cinema out from all its traditional shackles and directors like Sridhar delivered some of the great romantic flicks.50s and 60s films had some great film stars like Sivaji Ganesan[Played a variety of roles],MGR[Saviour of the down-trodden and poor - Robin Hood] and Gemini Ganesan[Kaadhal Mannan...I need not substantiate].By the end of 50s,Sivaji Ganesan has left DMK and presented himself a congressman.There after he started portraying several historical characters in films like like Veerapaandiya Kattabomman, Karnan,Thiruvilayadal,Saraswathi Sabatham etc.

DMK's trump card in 1967 Elections

Perhaps the most important political event of the decade should be Anti-hindi agitations of 1965.Anti-congress slogans were getting stronger in Tamilnadu and DMK capitalised the issue and came to power in 1967.One more important thing that contributed to DMK's stupendous success in the 1967 assembly elections is the sympathy wave,as MGR was shot in the throat by MR Radha.

Late 60s and 70s - New wave Cinema

Late 60s and 70s saw K Balachander breaking a lot of Cultural taboos in his cinema.It is widely considered that KB brought back the days of tamil drama into the tamil cinema.But nevertheless,we had a lot of great talents making their way into the tamil cinema in his films.Nagesh,Kamalhaasan and Rajinikanth to name a few.
Early 70s marked the fag end of the career of MGR as he became the Chief Minister of Tamilnadu in 1977.As MGR left DMK in 1972 and floated his party ADMK,his films of this period 1972-1977,cemented his saviour of the poor image and also questioned the atrocities committed by the ruling party,DMK.The trend of caching in on the image of an actor in films,that we see in most of Rajini & Kamal movies these days has been set by MGR.The songs of "Naalai Namadhe" and "Idhayakkani" literally spread ADMK's political aspirations,capitalising the halo of the party chief,MGRamachandran.

70s are a period of political turmoil and chaos in India as this period coincides with the Emergency and the restlessness and hatred of the people on the then Indira Gandhi's government can very well be observed in films like "Varumayin niram Sigappu".So,"the angry young man" character represented the anguish of the people on the government.Amitabh Bachhan portrayed this image in his films with an effortless ease,thanks to his tall and rugged persona.The ill-effects of emergency are not felt much in the south,but when Amitabh's movies were remade in the south,Rajinikanth with his rough looks and dark skin portayed those roles quite brilliantly and became an Image of this phenomenon.

Balu Mahendra - Master craftsman

In a pure cinematic sense of Technical excellence and absolute creativity,Late 70s are a golden era for tamil cinema.This period saw a gush of young blood like Mahendran, Bharathiraja,Bhagyaraj,TRajendar,Balumahendra and Rudhraiah who took cinema to the next level.Mahendran popularised the idea of films being inspired from short-stories and novels and his "Udhiripookkal","Johnny" and "Mullum Malarum" garnered wide critical reception and great commercial attention."16 Vayathinile" by Bharathiraja is considered the first film shot outside studios.Sensible film making with beautiful photography amused the audience as Balumahendra wrote,handled camera,edited and directed his films with sheer excellence.

80s - Rajinikanth & Kamalhaasan

Mid 80s had liberal cinema and films are no longer used for political propaganda and absolutely no constructive issues are dealt in films.Films begun to be looked at as full-time entertainers.The concept of masala films is originated by MGR through Enga veetu pillai,Engal thangam,Ulagam sutrum Vaalibhan etc.The baton was carefully relayed to the next generation actors Rajinikanth and Kamalhaasan.If Murattu kaalai and Sagala kala Vallavan haven't happened for Rajini and Kamal respectively,the fate of these actors and the tamil cinema as a whole would have been different.

Rajinikanth as Kaalaiyan in Murattu kaalai

Kamal Haasan chose to remain different and gave himself room to act in a variety of roles and established himself as the greatest actor of his generation and Rajinikanth knowingly or unknowingly multiplied his fan base through formula films.Any description of 70s and 80s cinema would be incomplete if Ilayaraja is left out.He is a genius...

90s & 2000s- Glamour & Masalas

90s are a liberal period and 90s saw India opening itself economically via globalisation.So,society is not the villain any more in films and Dons,Rowdism,terrorism are to be fought by the protagonists.Mani ratnam happened to Indian cinema through "Roja" and he quite boldly dealt with a lot of controversial subjects in Bombay,Uyire,Iruvar,Kannathil Muthamittal etc.
And,people are no longer satisfactorily entertained by south indian women.Gone are the days of Sridevi,Revathi & the like and Khushboo became a sensational success.Aishwarya Rai and Priyanka Chopra first acted in south India before pulling it off big in the Bollywood.This saw a host of North-Indian women imported for lip-moves and hip-moves.The role of a heroine has been cut-short terribly and her role is to dance with the hero for three duets in skimpy costumes.One rain song or swimming pool or beach sequence or bath tub is made compulsory.Simran,Jyothika are extremely successful after a series of exploitative roles in the beginning of their careers.

Paruthi Veeran by Ameer

Late 90s and Early 2000s again saw a new wave with a lot of youngsters like Bala,Ameer,Cheran and Mishkin involving themselves in quite a few creative and quality ventures among the so-called commercial trash.Tamil cinema technicians are world famous...ARRahman,Santosh Sivan,Thotta tharani...to name a few made giant strides in their crafts.

So that was a miniaturised history of tamil cinema in my viewpoint and now comes the all important task of identifying our Dominant phenomenons in our Cinema through these years.

1) DRAVIDIAN POLITICAL TINCH IN CINEMA - KALAIGNAR & ANNADURAI
2) ROBIN HOOD & THE ANGRY YOUNG MAN - MGR & RAJINIKANTH
3) CINEMA OUT FROM STUDIOS - NEW WAVE OF LATE 70s
4) THE GLAMOUROUS HEROINE - EARLY and MID-90s
5) MASALA FILMS & TECHNICALLY SOUND FILMS - LATE 90s and 2000s

Hope I have convincingly went through the history of our Cinema.