My Top -5 – Underrated Tamil Films On The Theme Of Love Failure.

My Top -5 – Underrated Tamil Films On The Theme Of Love Failure.

Inspired by blogger Sylvianism’s post on top romance films of Tamil cinema, I wanted to write my own list. Here are a few gems which might not have made the mainstream blockbuster lists but still work in an understated way.

1)    Paneer Pushpangal- this being the season of paneer, how could I resist starting off this post without paneer? Released in 1981 this was P.Vasu’s first directorial- much before china thambi and chandramukhi. The title paneer pusphangal refers to lotus flowers but the hidden meaning of the title is the early morning dew on the lotus flowers which evaporates with the full dawn as a metaphor for first love which disappears with the onslaught of reality. The story which deals with the budding of love in school kids of a boarding school in Ooty and is full of hilarious takes on hostel life in boarding schools and still resonates with those who have spent some part of their lives away from home eating terrible hostel food and pining for attention/affection even when surrounded all around by friends. The romance is such a natural expression of kids in that terrible teen years when your heart yearns for affection and gets a crush on whoever shows even the tiniest bit of affection. The lead actor suresh and his group of friends capture the slice of life of teen years in a poignant way. Not to forget the sketch of the wise and understanding teacher played, rather underplayed by pratap pothen in his trademark style. And true to style the movie ends in love failure as so often happens in real life. The songs are especial highlights of the movie- who can forget kodaikala katraey? Definitely this is one movie for the discerning types.

2)    Ninaivellam Nithya – again, an 80’s era film with love as the main theme and all the characters revolving around it. This again ends in a tragedy but is all the more sweeter for it as the entire movie seems geared up to play out the almost impossible happy ending when it comes to a pairing between two widely divergent individuals status wise. The hero is a rich kid, the heroine is a tribal and not only do they have the temerity to fall in love but they end up eloping and dying in the climax. A very young karthick and viji a debutante would have lived the roles of the star crossed lovers. Every casting choice was perfect and natural and the highlight of the movie are the songs which still make one get goosebumps. You can even consider this the breakout movie of singer SPB as the songs Pannivilum malarvanam and neethane endhan pon vasandham (yes, the original of the movie with the same title by Gautham menon) are still being played in many impromptu jam sessions and karaoke nights.

3)    Kadhal Kondein- I am partial to selvaraghhavan romances- I have no hesitation in accepting it. I thought long and hard about 7-g rainbow colony- another doomed romance with haunting songs before picking this one simply because with 7-g selva had perfected his craft and knew all the ways to tug at heartstrings but this one was raw romance with nary a thought of the box office acceptability. Danush burst on to the scene with this movie and gave us a glimpse of what he could do if left unfettered and in proper hands but sadly the image trap has consumed the actor in danush in recent times. The theme of unrequited love might be the same but the way that selva builds up danush’s character as the innocent friend who is used as a go-between of two lovers who naturally gets tempted and falls in love himself and the way that the heroine is the most matured character of all and handles the inappropriate love with parts compassion and parts exasperation makes beautiful watching. You can’t beat selvaraghavan when it comes to showing love from a feminine point of view.

4)    Parthiban Kanavu – this is a little gem for those who missed out when it was first released. The lead actor srikanth is in love with a woman but marries her lookalike who is totally opposite to his expectations. Rather than being disappointed, depressed or ending up in divorce the hero starts appreciating the new woman in his life. For a movie about post marital love it’s surprisingly subtle about the way in which the wife’s character starts growing up in her husband’s affection and ends up gaining his love even after he meets his original lover. Sneha literally owns this film in a dual role with both women affecting the hero in different ways. The movie which starts off with the love failure ends up showing marital success as the hero is mature enough to realize that what you lose on the swings you gain on the roundabouts.

5)    Ullam Ketkumey – a movie about a group of friends all of whom have love failures? I see you shaking your head and saying no way José. But this movie is not just about love, it’s about friendship, it’s about ambition, it’s about making clear headed choices in life and about redemption after love failure. There are a lot of romances in the movie- arya’s, poojas, shyams, laila’s- everyone ends up falling for one another as so often happens in close knit college buddies groups. But the movie doesn’t stop with the usual romance scenes or love failure songs. It shows life beyond love failure when people have the guts to pick themselves up and go onto succeed in other spheres of life even when romance has failed them. The scene where pooja walks into aryas room on the eve of his wedding and the scene where shyam at last realizes Laila’s love after being oblivious to it throughout the entire movie are quite heart tugging. The songs are just so and so, but the story more than makes up for the music.

The Other contenders -

Although there were many other contenders for the top 5 love failure movies, I didn’t want to go with the usual suspects like vinnaiy thandi varuvaya and premam which you would be hard pressed to find anyone in tamilnadu who has not watched or has an opinion on. Rather I wanted to showcase a few which no one would have seen or heard off before as my recommendations to watch. I give thanks to my friend sylvian Patrick for the blog prompt for this post and also to raj tv channel which by repeated telecast of all these movies has made me appreciate and become a fan of these little know gems. There is life after love and there is always another love failure movie to watch on Raj TV. Happy Valentine ’s Day folks.

பிஈசா-2: வில்லா – ஒரு ஆராய்ச்சி

பிஈசா-2: வில்லா – ஒரு ஆராய்ச்சி

ஒரு சில படம் – நாம படம் பார்த்து வெளியே வந்ததும் மறுபடியும் டிக்கெட்ட வாங்கிக்கிட்டு திரும்ப உள்ள போயி இன்னோரு தரம் பார்க்கணும்ன்னு தோணும். சமிபத்தில் நான் பார்த்த பிஈசா-2:வில்லா அப்படியொரு படம். எதுக்கு உடனே டிச்கெட்ட வாங்கிக்கிட்டு மறுபடியும் பார்க்கணும்னா- இன்னொரு தடவ பார்த்தாலாவது ஏதாவது புரியுதான்னு பார்க்கதான். அப்பவும் ஒண்ணும் புரியலன்னா அது மணிரத்தினம் படம்னு கணக்குல எழுதி விட்டுடன்னும்- மறுபடியும் மறுபடியும் ஆராய்ச்சி பண்ண கூடாது. அப்படித்தான் இருந்திச்சு வில்லாவும்.

ஒரு சபிக்கப்பட்ட வீடு- அதுல ஒரு பிரெஞ்சுகாரன் மந்திரம் செஞ்சிருக்கான். அத வாங்குற நாசர் ஒரு ஓவியர்- அவர் வரையறது எல்லாம் அப்படியே நடக்குது – கடைசிலே அது அவர் பையன் உயிரையே பலி வாங்கிடுது. இதான் கதைன்னு நினைக்கிறேன்- இல்லன்னா திட்டாதீங்க- எனக்கு அவ்ளோ தான் புரிஞ்சிது. இதுல டைரக்டர் டச்சு நாம பாராட்டியே ஆகனும்- ஒரு ஓவியம் காட்ராங்க- அதுல சிவப்பும் நீலமும் நாலு லைன் தான் தெரியுது – ஆனா ஹீரோக்கு மட்டும் அது கரெக்டா புரியுது - அது ஒரு நடக்க போற கொலைய காட்டுதுன்னு – உடனே அவர் தான் தான் அந்த கொலைய செய்ய போறோம்னு தெரிஞ்சுக்கிட்டு அதுக்கு முன்னாடியே தற்கொலை பண்ணிக்கிறாரு. சத்தியமா ஆடீயன்சு யாரும் இந்த ட்விஸ்ட்ட எதிர் பார்த்திருக்க மாட்டாங்க- அதான் திகில் படம், இல்லையா?

இது எனக்கு எது ஞாபகபடுத்துன்னா – காலேஜில்ல படிக்கறப்போ எக்ஸாம்ல மனுஷன் படம் வறைவோம் – அதுக்கு ரெண்டு கை ரெண்டு காலு ஒரு தல மட்டும் தான் இருக்கும் – ஆனா அத வெச்சிட்டு எங்க வாத்தியார் எனக்கு மார்க்கு போடுவாரு (எனக்கும் ஆச்சரியம் தான், என்ன செய்ய) – அந்த மாதிரி ஆளுங்களுக்கு தான் இந்த மாதிரி திகில் படம் புரியும் போல. 

இது புரிஞ்சா பத்து மார்க்

நாங்கெல்லாம் அந்த அளவுக்கு வொர்த் இல்லை- நாங்க கேட்கறது எல்லார்க்கும் புரியற மாதிரியான ஒரு சாதா தமிழ் படம்ங்க –உங்க அதிமேதாவிதனத்தை எல்லாம் காட்டி எங்களை குழப்புனீங்க – அவ்வளோதான் எங்கள மாதிரியான “சாதா” சினிமா ரசிகர்கள் “விட்றா இத தீபாவளி/பொங்கலுக்கு டிவியில் பார்த்துபோம்”ன்னு வீட்ல இருந்துடுவோம். ஓகே’வா?

How To Release A Tamil Film- A Step-By-Step Primer

How To Release A Tamil Film- A Step-By-Step Primer

Our film making starts at Chennai’s Burma Bazar to get a DVD of any Hollywood film -an international spy thriller like True Lies for instance. And you have the story ready for a kick-ass action film to be made in tamil. But Hollywood movies as such have lots of disadvantages- a lack of music, songs and dance which makes an even average storyline a mega grosser. So that’s our next step.

Again go to Ritchie Street and get the DVD copy of the Bollywood rip-off of the same movie with a catchy hindi title like “Ektha Tiger”. Repeated viewings helps you to localise content for native audiences- like for instance how many songs you need to add and where to insert the songs in the movie- before the fight/after the fight or in the middle of the fight.

Now take your screenplay to a comedy writer like crazy mohan and ask him to add some comedy scenes with fast moving give and take lines. Alternately you can  include some double meaning jokes involving female body parts and sexual innuendos and call it humor.

To add punch to the script, sprinkle a few punch-dialogues here and there like: you can ban me, but you cannot ban my fan. One blow from me and you will remember your past lives. Whoever beats you that your head turns and you faint, that is me. Etc....depending on your creativity and how far you want to punch with dialogues.

 

If the script still seems to lack that extra something- go to a previously popular, now  out-of-market actress and book for a raunchy “Item” song. Extra rates depending on amount of cleavage showing and playing with belly buttons.

Now script is ready and its time to go for casting. Go to Mumbai and select a Rajasthani/Punjabi kudi with a fair complexion. Make her wear a traditional tamilian half sari and pass her off as a typical tamil village belle. Except for dream songs, where she can frolic in beach wear/bikini and justify her signing amount.

Hero can be of any age, height or colour (as long as he bears the production expenses) and he will wear checked shirts and torn jeans and go to college (always) carrying a single 80pages notebook all through college life. The hero's friend’s gang will be of an average age of 60+ but still be college students also.

Make hero rag, eave tease, harass the heroine continuously until she declares her love for him in front of the whole college including the principal who will suddenly start clapping and talk about his unfulfilled love for a female lecturer. Have group dance of all college students of all departments and sections- united by love. Give break/interval for first half.

Shoot half the movie – typically the second half of the movie in picturesque locales Namibia, China, New Zealand and show it as a typical Tamil village with huts and bullock carts and caste fights with sickles. Have blood soaked climax where hero and heroine gaze into each other’s eyes after finishing off the villains- typically all adult males/rest of the village.

Lean back and enjoy the massive success of a super hit film.

Oh wait, you are asking why I said how to release a movie and didn’t say anything about releasing?

Come on, once you sell the movie for a mega price- all areas A,B,C- to distributors – its their headache to release the movie. Unless you are greedy enough to retain the distribution for yourself- in that case you are nuts and totally screwed.

Post Script: Three months later announce you are going to remake this in Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Bhojpuri and watch as your producer urgently releases (overnight) the dubbed version of the movie in all languages. Complain about your copyright infringement and intellectual property theft in all TV channels and demand protection/compensation. Also announce that you are working on an international collaboration of the same movie in Hollywood starring Sean Connery or Harrison Ford as the college student/hero. Have your name trend as a meme online with the hash tag #indias only international class film maker. Laugh all the way to the bank.

Kollywood-2012… Annual Round-up.

As usual the year had its mixture of blockbusters, niche hits and a mix of the two. But the ones which were a hit were not genre changing and neither were the ones which flopped. As they say in Kolly-talk, the more things change the more they remain the same. And 2012 was an average year for the Tamil Film industry

The Saravedi hits of the year.

1) Naan-E.

          The ultimate blockbuster hit of the year and a remake of the telugu movie “eega” was a testimony that even a wafer thin story line can be made into an interesting movie if there’s is an intelligent screenplay and perfect editing. Plus it was a perfect re-launch of Samantha in the tamil industry. Sudeep the actor who played the antagonist is a superstar of the sandalwood (kannada film) industry but choose to go against type by playing an out and out baddie and showed he could pull it off. Even the music, especially the fly-dance, of which you do not expect much in special-effects heavy films was pleasing to the ears. The fly gets to be my superstar of this year and I give it- 5stars

2) Billa-2.

        One of the toughest of genres to make – a prequel. Tamil cinema has never seen something like this and it took guts to make a film which doesn’t continue the story but takes us back to the humble beginnings. Despite all the critics who panned it for the excessive violence, the movie struck to its genre which alone makes me give it the second best movie award. You cant make a gangster movie without killing people off- gangsters don’t hug and forgive. And if the hero comes through unscathed through all the fights, it’s a prequel for heaven’s sake. The hero is supposed to survive till he dies in the next part- that’s the simple explanation- for continuity’s sake. The director knew what his story was about and he stuck to it without pandering to any commercial sentiments. There was no softening of the hero’s villainy with a heart wrenching flashback involving mothers and sisters. A refugee with no way to survive takes it on himself to fight back and uses the only means he knows- unthinking violence and effortlessly underplayed by Ajit kumar who shows once again he can be a fine actor if given a chance. For a sheer uncompromising storyline I give it 4stars.

3) Leelai.

          A pleasantly surprising sleeper film from an unknown team and which had a delayed release of over 3 years because of absence of star power. My pick for romantic hit of the year. The story line was straightforward romance, but never a drag for a single minute. Plus the music and song picturisation was better than average. A nice little time pass movie, but with the other execrable fare on offer all year this deserves a 3star.

4) Naan..

              Again a low –budget movie which was a better than average thriller. Starring the music director Vijay Antony in a new makeover as a hero and quite effectively at that, the movie was a straightforward narration of an identity swap with undercurrents of Hitchcock’s Psycho. The music was the usual Vijay Antony formula of jumbled lyrics and hummable music. Plus the film proved that not only mass hero’s can pull off thrillers or action movies. 2-stars

5) Sundarapandian.

                I don’t watch sasikumar movies. Change that to, I have never watched sasikuamr movies. Because I don’t like movies with rustic, bearded, ruffians who go around waving arrivals and slitting throats. But I was recommended this movie as light fare (by my mother) and I decided to make an exception for once. And I enjoyed the movie because the film was more about the romantic antics of the theni youth than a typical aruva bloodfest. The characters were surprisingly true to life and more importantly didn’t bore anytime- 1star.

Others which didn’t make the list, but which were worth a mention are- Nanban, Kathalil Sothapuvadu Yeappadi and Needhane Enn Pon Vasantham.

Dabba Movies of the year.

1) Mankatha-

Oh my gawd, where do I start? Let me share just one dialogue “action king, I like it”…a dialogue which ajits character keeps repeating every ten minutes or so till the end of the film. A film which is unable to decide what it is – a straightforward heist saga or a spoof of one and ultimately falling headfirst between two stools. The director (or was it the hero) who insisted on making the film too clever by half, laughing at both the audience and at themselves, which ends up insulting our intelligence by being too clever by half. A film in which I wished I had walked out at the interval.

2) Pizza.

A film which reminded me again (like a hammer blow to the head) that the taste of most (all) movie critics is execrable and when they go ga-ga over a movie, you should turn the other side and run. Thankfully, as I was watching this over a dvd, I could rip it off the player, jump on it and let go of my disappointment at having wasted time and money on watching a movie which should have been at the most a 30-mins episode off ZEEtv’s midnight thrills. Pizza was stale, stuffy and made you nostalgic for all early 90’s those nostalgic for Ramsay horror-thrillers like Purana Mandir, Purana Haveli etc.

3) Mugamudi

 The only question I can ask is why? Why mishkin why? Why jeeva, why? Did you all have a collective mindfreeze to make such a movie? Or did the producer have a lot of money which he wanted to burn free? I failed to see the point of this film, then, now and maybe forever.

 Heres to a happy new year, 2013 with more interesting and intelligent movies..paisa vasool, what say?