Desicritics Category: Media: Films - Tamil

Movie Review: Kuselan

Blokesablogin — Sun, 3 Aug 2008 06:26:08 EDT

My two sons are great fans of Rajnikanth, the Tamil Superstar. To tell you the truth, I have a weak spot for his "style" myself! When Shivaji was released some months back, we went around for a week aping his "style"! With equal enthusiasm, we made it a huge family affair with cousins and all to watch Kuselan, the latest offering with Rajni in it.

Thirty minutes into the film is when we realized that he was a "special appearance" and not the actual lead role. What a let down! The first 30 minutes had not even a photo of Rajni! So friends, if you are a die hard Rajni fan, please do not go to the movies trusting him to make his appearance any time soon. Then you can anticipate his "arrival".

The movie tells the touching story of Sudama and Krishna from the Srimad Bhagavatham (Kuchelopakyaanam) in a modern context. It is also a semi-biography that traces the origins of Rajnikanth's humble beginnings before he made it big in the film industry.

Our protagonist is a humble barber who wants a loan without giving a bribe. Obviously, in 21st century India that is as common as India winning an Olympic gold! He lives a simple and contented life with his wife and three children who in return ask nothing much of him.

The rustic village atmosphere is shattered by the arrival of a huge film crew including the super star. People in the village who know that the barber was childhood friends with the super star urge him to meet him and get them favors. Balu (Balakrishnan - do not miss out on the name!), the barber, refuses. Then they believe him to have spun tales out of thin air.

At this juncture I thought the film would be about micro credit financing as this barber could have greatly benefited from such a scheme. I hope those micro credit fellows will not turn corrupt like the rest of the lot. I digress.

The shooting is done and the local school invites the superstar to address them. There, our protagonist stand behind to see his friend speak. The friend narrates the incidents of his life that included the barber and wished that he were there to share in his success.

The barber leaves the crowd silently only to find the super star at his doorstep! The last scene was most touching and I was reminded of the Krishna-Sudama episode. The friends share a piece of peanut brittle (chikki) and the super star positions himself as the guardian for all his friend's children.

Apart from a very peppy number by Daler Mehndi, the rest are hard to even remember. The costumes for the songs were amazing but the songs were totally unnecessary and unwarranted in the film. Nayantara as Rajni's co-star was far from any kind of acting except for showing off her bod.

The story of Sudama (Kuchela) was one of many favorites as a child. To see it brought to the silver screen was a delightful experience. Some of our cousins, aunt, and uncle who were visiting us couldn't believe the fan following in America!

Book Review: Sivaji Ganesan's Autobiography of an Actor

Amrita Rajan — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 12:44:43 EST

In 1954, Tamil icon Sivaji Ganesan and Padmini (Hindi movie-goers might remember her from films like Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai and Amar Deep) starred in C.H. Narayanamoorthy's Ethir Paradhathu, a boffo drama about lovers torn apart by cruel fate. The script required 'Pappi' as she's more informally known down South, to slap Ganesan's face when she mistakenly thinks he's trying to put a move on her. The scene apparently took a lot of persuasion all around because Pappi felt a hero shouldn't get his face slapped. She finally agreed at Ganesan's own urging.

In retrospect, he really ought to have minded his own business because the next thing he knew, 'fragile' little Pappi was in the throes of some sort of a psychotic episode and beating the crap out of him. What was supposed to be a simple, righteous slap turned into a full scale assault that left him bleeding on the floor. Adding to his troubles, her wild actions stunned the entire crew into silence and the director forgot to yell cut. Ganesan wound up screaming for them to end the torture, blood dripping down his face. Pappi, forcibly restrained, retired to bed and took two days to recover from her brief foray into Method acting.

This is the kind of entertaining material you're likely to find in Sivaji Ganesan's Autobiography of an Actor.

Strictly speaking, it is not an autobiography - instead, it is an exhaustive interview conducted in Tamil by Dr. T.S. Narayana Swamy and translated to English by Sabita Radhakrishna. But it is perhaps one of the most frank and wonderful books I've ever read about an actor.

In a free ranging conversation that tackles everything from politics to family, cinema and beyond, Ganesan takes the reader on a conducted tour of not just the Tamil film industry as it evolved and grew, but also India and Tamil Nadu through Independence and to the end of the millennium. From his roots in theater as a young runaway to his eventual status as the grand patriarch of Tamil cinema, it is an incredible journey for which there are no parallels that I can think of.

For the cinephile, he talks about his process as an actor - the best way to describe it is Anti-Method, something he justifies with the use of incidents such as the one with Pappi above. It's especially interesting when you realize that, by and large, it is his philosophy of acting that continues to inform Tamil cinema. This is, in fact, an excellent opportunity for people (such as I, for example) who have experienced the sheer theatricality of a Ganesan performance and been drawn in by it in spite of growing up in an era dominated by the Method school of acting.

On the other hand, the politics junkie is adequately served by Ganesan's stories of the Dravidian movement as it overran the Tamilian political scene. Periyar, MGR, Karunanidhi, they're all here, as well as talk of conspiracies, petty jealousies, politicking et al. There is even Indira Gandhi, facing down a hostile mob shortly after she lost her seat in the elections following Emergency, with no one but Ganesan to protect her.

All of this is, of course, presented through a Ganesan-colored lens, but it is presented with such openness that at no point does it interfere with one's ability to look beyond at the greater landscape.

This self-published book is also a treasure trove of photographs - an absurdly young trio of MGR, Karunanidhi and Sivaji Ganesan lounging about on the day of the latter's wedding; stills from almost all of his 287 movies plus a few portraits of him trying on various getups that never made it into a film (I loved these - they were of him in basically the same costume, holding the same pose but with different implements); 'candids' of family life where he can't resist mugging for the camera in front of his impassive wife, including a wonderful shot of him on a horse in Texas, looking for all the world like a gleeful schoolboy in a five gallon hat.

There are, of course, some eccentricities and bizarre episodes as are to be expected in a translation that seeks to keep the spirit of the original - a page of photographs titled "One Big Happy Family", for example, is dominated by a picture of a baby elephant, the same one I should suppose that he gifted to the United States. Then there are the occasional and somewhat inevitable lapses into hyperbole - the book begins with Swamy saying: "Revered Sri Sivaji Ganesan, I am grateful to you for the wonderful opportunity you have given me to compile your autobiography."

There are also passages where something might have been lost in translation: asked about his younger son, Prabhu, a successful actor in his own right, Ganesan comes off sounding incredibly bitter: "I wanted to educate him and make him a high ranking police officer but he trampled on my dreams. My brother Shanmugham and my director friend C.V. Rajendran conspired behind my back...The worst part is that he acted as a villain against me in the film Sangili."

A layperson such as I would be forgiven for thinking that the two were grievously estranged.

But these minor quibbles apart, this is not a book that hesitates to ask uncomfortable questions, most notably regarding Ganesan's failed political career. In the spirit of Ganesan's reply to Swamy ("Greetings to you Dr. T.S. Narayana Swamy. My life is an open book."), both interviewer and interviewee do their best to deliver a complete picture of Ganesan's life. What emerges is a fascinating study of Indian cinema and Tamil cinema in particular.

Rather selfishly perhaps, I found myself glad that unlike his contemporaries, he didn't succeed in politics, thus paving the way for an extraordinary decades long career in Indian cinema.

Movie Review: Varalaru - Good Actors Making Bad Choices

DesiGirl — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 12:14:41 EST

In a country like ours, where movie stars enjoy venerated status, they are in a unique position to do something positive, something immensely good to the people, to actually make a change. Some adopt a cause and use their status to do great, charitable things. In some cases, though, their A-list status is enough to publicise a deed, be it good or bad. In that regard, a 'star' at the top of his (or her) reign, has to be ultra careful in making sure his movie choices cannot be misconstrued as anything less than stellar.

This was something that Tamil actor Ajith forgot when he signed up for the movie Varalaru a.k.a Godfather. At that time, the man's career was in the doldrums and since then, he has slowly regained his lost lustre in the eyes of his adoring public. But with Varalaru, he has lost whatever respect I had for him as a person.

In the movie, Ajith plays the part of the father, the son and the evil villain who also turns out to be his other son - surprise! Daddy dear is a trained bharathnatyam dancer, which for some reason, equates him to a eunuch and all he does is elaborate abhinayam in place of regular expressions. Okay, harmless I hear you say. He is - till the day he is two shakes of a duck's tail away from being married to this luscious babe - and she dumps him. Why? Only 'cos he comes across more girlish than her! This of course enrages the hero!

So he sets off to prove his manhood. How does he do it? Oh by this easy way of raping her. In her room. With a whole household full of servants and mother hollering away, banging on the door.

Though the girl screeches it at the top of her voice, he has great trouble hearing the word 'NO' and calmly proceeds to 'show' her that he is a man, after all!

What really takes the biscuit is his explanation to the girl's mum after he was done. Apparently, he did what he did because the girl was having doubts about his manliness. How else could a bloke to prove he is a man? By raping the said woman, of course!

The cherry on top of this sick icing happens a few scenes later, when the girl's mum pleads his case to her now pregnant daughter, with the standard "He is a good man, sweetheart" line. Of course he is, if you discount the fact the raped you to prove his manhood. He is so the man!It is movies like this that make me want to gag. Here we have organisations trying to fight crimes against women and then we have movies like this tosh, that make a whole mahatma out of the sod who commits this heinous crime. Even more gaggable fact is that, the adoring public turned up in droves to see this load of crap, shelling out their hard earned money hand over fist to make it a hit. A hit! This &%$#* of a film!

There's no accounting for taste, is there? Women getting assaulted - well that is no filmy matter, is it? Why would one trivialize it so? What the hell was the Censor Board doing when it deemed this palpable fare?

Two things about such ventures astound me

how could a sane person decide portraying such roles is actually a good thing to do

why an intelligent person would throw good, hard earned money at such claptrap?

who were part of the blessed jury that awarded Best Male to Ajith for this performance?

It also makes me wonder when the so-called 'stars' would actually realise what amazing pull they have and use it to actually do some good, rather than to purely rake in the dosh. Looking cool and setting little girlies' heart go pitty-pat is all fine and dandy. But to actually pass on sensible message, one that will do some good, for a change, whilst looking cool - well that's the ult, isn't it?Any takers? Ajith? Maddy?

ps: Any one who wants to claim 'oh Daddy Ajith repented what he did and tried to make amends' and thereby prove this is a worthy film, please, save your breath.

Book Reading Statistics in the USA

Dr Bhaskar Dasgupta — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 05:37:58 EDT

This was shocking to me, I would have never thought so at all, but I have no reason to disbelieve these statistics (It is a PDF file - the statistics are around page 15-17 - Ed)

58% of the US adult population never reads another book after high school
42% of college graduates never read another book
80% of US families did not buy or read a book last year.
70% of US adults have not been in a bookstore in the last five years
57% of new books are not read to completion.
Most readers do not get past page 18 in a book they have purchased.

I am dumbfounded but well, that's where it is coming from. I then tried to think about the financial markets where I work. This industry is perhaps having the most intelligent, educated and wealthy lot globally compared to other industries. And they do not read that many books. If you walk across a trading floor and ask how many fiction and non fiction (non-financial) books they have bought and read, you would hit perhaps 10% - 20% level who would say yes.

And having been around the world, I would say that the above US statistics are on the top end of the scale, most other countries will have much lower numbers of readership, ownership and purchasing. Either books are way too expensive or they are too time consuming. My father, the archetypal absent minded professor of engineering with 18 degrees in engineering, I can never remember seeing him reading anything that was fiction or non-fiction (non-engineering) related. So that's what my thoughts are about other countries, do you think that other countries have better readership, book ownership and purchasing statistics?

Last night, I had the privilege of being with a load of authors and publishers and teachers and writers and people of that ilk. All they said was that the mainstream publishing business has been reduced to chicklit, celebrity fiction and misery fiction. Nothing more nothing less. Well, not surprised. I attended the London Book Fair last year, supposedly the largest commercial Book Fair in the world, and I have no reason to think that this narrowing of publishing to chicklit is anything but global. (curiously, I did not manage to find any global statistics on this industry)

But a bit sad at the loss of the bibliophilic and logophilic gene in our society.

Technorati Tags: USA , Publishing

Movie Review: Shivaji, the Boss

Blokesablogin — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 00:19:02 EDT

We were disappointed when the film's release was delayed from April to June. We all rushed to the theater to watch the costliest film ever produced in Indian film history. We did not mind forking out $8 per head to watch our favorite Super Star on the Velli Thirai (Big Screen). My boys simply adore his antics and adopt his "style" effortlessly. They repeat his "one liners" as if it were a mantra! For the next week we went tapping on our heads like Shivaji, the Boss!

It was paisa vasool, total entertainment. What else can one expect when the director is none other than Shankar, known for his extravagance? It was written (in Tamil mags) that Rajnikath was paid an astronomical sum of IRs 40 crores, that is about $1 mill. Not bad for the dark-skinned actor who began his career as a low-paid bus conductor.

For me, Rajni was the symbol of all that was right about socialism. He was the success story from the 70s when he began his career in the Tamil cinema world. His rags-to-riches story confirms the storyline in many of his stories as Super Star. How could I forget the oily-skinned villain of 16 Vayathiniley (When 16) who struck terror in my heart along with Sridevi's! But the one role I loved was his Mullum Malarum (The Thorn and the Flower) as the wicked-soft Kaalai (literally, bull) who was all rough on the outside and all mushy inside for his sister. His portrayal of an obsessive lover in Moondru Mudichu (Three Knots) with Sridevi and Kamalahasan is memorable to this day. The song Vasanthakaala Nadigalile (In the Spring Rivers) will be forever etched in my memory.

I doubt many of his modern fans (including my children) have even seen some of his finer films where he emoted so beautifully. For one, most of the films I am referring to were in black and white and seen in small Kottaais (palm-frond theaters) in rural parts of Tamil Nadu with the soft whirring of the projector. Television was still unknown to a lot of us. Over a period of time his "style" was more commented upon and duplicated than his talent.

However, I got drawn into Rajni's swashbuckling antics of the 80s and 90s as you could never resist his twinkling eyes that tell you that all this is a huge joke! His sense of timing with comedy makes it more hilarious when delivered in his uniquely accented voice.

Shivaji lives up to that lightness. There are many jokes pertaining to skin color and an entire song sequence that was digitally remastered to show Rajni in "fair" skin. The easy affability of this actor seeps through whether you understand Tamil or not! It is no wonder that he is such a hit in Japan!

The music of AR Rehman is simply stunning. The Oru koodai sunlight in a reggae beat is simply stunning along with its picturization. You can never go wrong with picturization in a Shankar's film. He pulls out all stops to get the songs done right. [He spent crores filming the Adhisayam (filmed on location at the Seven Wonders of the World) song in Jeans with Aishwarya Rai.] The glass/crystal set for Sahana saaral thoorutho was so romantic, it put Cinderella's castle to shame. He is one director who consistently uses his medium to accentuate the visual folk arts of Tamil Nadu. The first song Ballelaika attests to that. The costumes and sets are grander than anything you can imagine.

Coming to the story, it was a very interesting twist to handling the issue of corruption. The movie begins with a do-gooder, our Super Star, imprisoned because he wishes to give back to society! The rest of the film is the unfolding of events he narrates to his cell mates and the final twist in the tale.

Given Shankar's obsession in ridding the land of evildoers, he achieves it through violence. With Rajni, it was more the use of wit and smarts. Yes, the fists fly in some scenes, but not to the extent as in some of Shankar's previous oeuvres. Be it Indian, The Gentleman, Mudhalvan and more recently, Anniyan, he has always treated corruption with annihilation. This time around it was more lyrical and comical with our super star and his eyes that glint!

Rajni, as a super star, never did well with sizzling, sensual scenes. Hence, the safety of taking kids to his films. He would make it look like a grand farce with the girl hero-worshiping more than melting in his arms. He gets away with those romantic music numbers by being a "rough" general, who is a war hero, returned home, rather than a pretty-in-pink lover boy.

What I could not handle, however, was him showing his age alongside his nubile, young star, Shriya Saran. It is not his physical looks as much as his body language which is too mature. I guess, he essayed getting rid of his heroine in Baba which was totally unacceptable to the Tamil people! Poor dear.

I sincerely hope Tamil directors and producers will make him act in roles that are more suited to his age and experience as the Bollywood fellas have done for Amitabh Bacchan. It is also time for a new generation of Tamil moviegoers to know what a great actor their super star is and see him in new roles!

How To Deal With Surveys

Uma Ranganathan — Sun, 7 Oct 2007 10:42:05 EDT

Today's papers carry a report on the current thinking on fish. What they're now saying is that it is good for pregnant women, regardless of possible mercury contamination because the advantages of eating fish outweigh the hazards of any contamination. I figured that if fish was good for pregnant women it had to be good for me as well, even if I’m not pregnant, which is a heartwarming bit of news because it is one of my favorite foods. Fish is not only a major source of protein but said to contain certain essential amino acids which are not found in the tissue of plants or other animals.

Now coming to red meat. Red meat which was once considered the villain behind colon cancer is currently off the danger list, especially for people over a certain age. (What that age was I forget now, due to increasingly frequent memory lapses, but most likely it includes me). There is no proof that red meat is detrimental to health, they say. (“They” is a term I have standardized on to refer to “experts” in various fields, the same way many women refer to their husbands as “he” and mother-in-laws as “she”).

What I am slowly getting at is, what is one supposed to make of surveys which hit the headlines every couple of days contradicting everything you had read about a particular item last week or last month? I don’t know how you deal with it but I’ve decided that I’m going to make a list of everything I love to eat and drink and then check on all the good things they say about them and what’s more believe them.

Let’s start with coffee. Can’t begin my day without it. For years coffee had the reputation of being almost a killer drink, damned on account of its causing everything from high blood pressure and heart disease to colon, bladder and pancreatic cancers. Today they’re claiming that drinking moderate amounts of coffee improves memory and among other things reduces the risk of Parkinson’s disease. No prizes for guessing which side I’m on.

I’ve always loved red wine as well as beer but have been daunted by all that is said about alcohol being bad for osteoporosis which about ninety five per cent of the women are supposed to develop in later years. Considering osteoporosis runs in my family and how deformed my great grandmother’s back became because of it, you can understand my qualms. The thing is my fear never really stopped me from drinking either wine or beer (and fairly impressive quantities of it when I was on a trip to Europe) but it made me feel horribly guilty and bad about what I was doing to myself and possibly hastening the onset of a crippling disease.

But - as everybody and his brother knows, red wine is now looked upon almost as a vitamin tonic. From helping to ward off heart attacks to lowering cholesterol, red wine (again, when consumed moderately) is being almost touted as a health drink. They don’t mention the effect it has on osteoporosis any more (at least the surveys I’ve been looking at with an unashamedly biased eye) but here’s some good news I just discovered for beer drinkers. “Beer,” according to an article I just found on the net by a certain Bryce Eddings (don’t ask me who he is but - God bless him for the vital information he's provided - I decided to trust my instinct and believe him anyway) “also reduces blood clots and it has been shown to improve mental function in women as well as increasing bone density.”

As for cigarettes. One is positively ashamed to admit one’s sneaking fondness for the weed. Part of the reason I’ve stopped smoking on a daily basis and stick to what they call “OP brand” (Other People’s brand) is the raised eyebrows and figurative rap on the knuckles you get from all and sundry, especially little (and big) old ladies you bump into at the odd café or restaurant, when you so much as look at a ciggie, let alone fumble nervously and interminably with a match to light one. But now they’re saying that smoking is likely to delay the onset of that dreaded old age scourge – Alzheimer’s disease. Most likely you’ll be dead from cancer or a heart attack long before Alzheimer’s sets in, but by then you’re anyway beyond caring. So one way or another what they say about cigarettes and Alzheimer’s somehow rings so true I’m looking out for the next person from whom I can filch a fag.

Surprisingly the one item about which nobody has been able to say anything good, which seems to have no redeeming features and yet which is not considered a public hazard as yet, are potato chips. I like them, though they’re the kind of thing which I try to hold off because once one of those tricky little guys has made contact with my tongue I become oblivious to what my hand is doing, until the goddamn bowl is empty. However, fellow potato chip lovers, I’m sorry for this bad news. Chips are downright evil. French fries, chips, wafers and all fried things made out of potatoes, according to all the surveys I’ve been reading, are positively toxic, releasing as they do a very bad chemical called acrylimide which can damage nerve cells and cause cancer. In addition they are burdened with calories and have no – I repeat, absolutely NO nutritional benefits.

So, well, if I have to toss something out of my diet it will be chips I guess. Makes me sad but all said and done I can survive without them. Yeah, I think I’ll just stop eating any kind of chips from tomorrow. I mean who wants to load their bodies with thousands of extra calories dipped in cancer causing acrylimide and re-used oil? I am already beginning to feel virtuous about being kind to my body. In fact it makes me feel so good I think I’ll celebrate my new found austerity with an extra glass of wine and a last bag of potato chips.

Movie Review: Sivaji The Boss

Dr Krishnan — Thu, 2 Aug 2007 11:30:59 EDT

On being asked to review a movie, I decided on the recent Rajinikanth starrer, Sivaji. The contagion of "low culture" as Naipaul puts it had bitten. As everyone is aware. it came packaged with huge amounts of hyperbole.

Packaging aside, this movie is pure Masala. So what? Doesn't one listen to Britney S, or read Harry Potter? Let's not be defensive about Indian Kitsch. Also, Rajnikanth is a strangely divisive figure. His quirky body language enthralls some and leaves others cold.

In this movie the director collated all of Rajni's mannerisms over the years and created a huge candy-floss mess(words fail me). The effect is like eating a ton of cotton candy at one sitting. Consider a song sequence - groups of suited extras in Venetian masks gyrate to A R Rehman. In another, a group of dwarves do an ersatz polka around a slim scantily clad heroine. A 'Fight' sequence in a shop selling musical instruments - guitars, tablas and tambourines - add to the cacophony.

The special effects literally boggle your mind. Dali-esque images, sounds and emotions pound one scene after another, leaving one befuddled and a trifle deaf. The plot is ultra-simple -- the failing Indian state better shape up or else Rajni will set you straight. In one memorable scene, the hero disembowels a politician -- the chief minister no less. The hero regularly thrashes a sundry blend of "baddies" --- starting from crooked accountants to MLAs in a Mussolini-like manner in a room which he calls his "office".

So much for the movie - what next for Rajni and Shankar? Rajni is off to the Himalayas to meditate - he needs to after all this aggro. Shankar to top this film will have to morph into an alien and fly off to some distant planet. Such are his accomplishments in this foray. But seriously guys, do not be put off by the snide tone of this review. Go see the movie. I sat through it all like the McDonald's ad --- "just loving it".

Watching Sivaji In Silicon Valley

sufferingsocrates — Tue, 3 Jul 2007 03:38:23 EDT

Last weekend was my first weekend in Silicon Valley, in what is (currently) my second visit to the U.S. Not too confusing a line if you read it carefully, but unlike my Confucius nature, there was no confusion for my cousin as to what movie he had been dying to watch since long. He had driven down from Sacramento for a function of our mutual cousin's (@ Fremont, CA), and we decided to go for Sivaji, the Boss at Camera 3 Cinemas , San Jose. Till date, Sivaji, The Boss is the most expensive movie (over Rs. 90 crores, i.e. 22.5 million USD) ever in Indian Movie History. And Rajnikanth, the hero, with this movie, became the highest paid actor in Indian Cinema as of today (over Rs. 17 crore, 4.2 million USD!!). To think that his fee amounted to 19% of the movie expense can be validated by his unbelievable cult following in South India, Japan and Singapore.

The hype that it had created was so huge, that it stole the thunder from the Yash Raj Production, Jhoom-Barabar-Jhoom, starring the Junior B and featuring the Big B. There was also a lot of skepticism because of the hype , whether the movie will do as well as expected. Music by A.R. Rehman should have helped boost the movie, but was that enough? Sankar, accomplished director of movies like Anniyan, Mudhalvan (Nayak in Hindi), Gentleman had to hit the right balance between Rajni's irrepressible style and his own directorial skills, with the message of the all pervasive black money issue in Indian Society.

In the past 6-7 years, all Rajni movies have been loads of style and less of substance. Still, be it Padayappa or Chandramukhi, Rajni's films pulled it off well at the box office. His style has been so over-emphasized, that his acting skills have been all but forgotten. Which is quite sad. But hey, if he can still pull off blockbusters at the box office as the hero of a mainstream Indian movie at the age of 57, who cares ? Watching Sivaji, reminded me of Chandramukhi, which I saw a couple of years back in Tamil Nadu, with another cousin of mine. Lots of style in Sivaji too, the coin flipping horizontally, then vertically and landing in his palm. Then the chewing gum going in his mouth, after rebounding from his palm, were all there (Hard to imagine eh?).

But what took the cake were the song picturisations, which were all international class, with the heroine grabbing all the attention in them. Shreya has done a remarkable job for the small role she has portrayed, unlike other running-around-trees heroines. Rajni was clearly struggling to match her graceful moves in the songs, but tried to make up with his own inimitable style. The songs were a delight to watch, and would probably have cost at least a third of the production cost. But it sure was worth it, and Sankar must probably consider selling the soundtrack exclusively as pop albums maybe.

The movie, based on how money laundering has resulted in black money flooding the Indian Economy, seemed too simple. There weren't any surprises as far as the storyline was concerned. Rajni plays an NRI returned to India, hoping to build institutions for free education, and a business honcho tried to prevent him in this, fearing his own decline. He becomes the victim of red tapism and corruption, and finally decides to use the loopholes in the system , to make good use of the black money. Vivek as his sidekick showed glimpses of his comic timing, but he has done much better in other movies, one felt

The film as a whole, can probably be seen once for the sheer picturisation, and most importantly the Rajni factor. What took the cake was undoubtedly the bald look, with the long beard in the last half hour of the movie, where he avenges the villain. One would realize, why Rajni still pulls off style even at 57. The look was perfect on him, and his finger tap on the bald head, was something a lot of people may scoff at, but not many would discount it becoming a trend soon. I guess that is Rajni for you. He will make his style statement, come what may. Be it the 15 minute laka-laka-laka-laka in Chandramukhi, or the fabulous bald headed look in Sivaji. No wonder, he still is the Boss, atleast in the Tamil Film Industry !

Overall, a nice entertainer, loaded with greatly picturised songs, and action sequences. A graceful Shreya, and a stylish Rajni, but the film still lacks the twists of a Mudhalvan or Gentleman that Sankar is so good at giving the audiences. Maybe he wanted to take a break, and give the limelight to the boss, and let him make his screen presence felt. And it sure does seem to have worked!

Living through the Sivaji and Rajinikanth Mania in Chennai

Buddha Ram — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 14:36:17 EDT

Chennai is currently going through an experience like never before. Every available wall has the movie posters of Sivaji plastered over them, every other bus has the stills hung from it's rear, there are large hoardings, Rajnikanth walks towards you or looks at you from everywhere! Every newspaper and magazine in the city has probably done a dozen lead stories on the movie if not more all through its production and reaching a crescendo last week as never before seen. The radio and visual media (and indeed the Internet, with blogs following every stage of production and blogs in Japanese and French about the film!) went hoarse literally with spot reports screaming about the movie amidst the din of the theaters ensuring their bit in history of sorts being created.

Sivaji is the single point in every conversation. That the movie is a never before kind for any Indian movie has been documented well enough. Some of the numbers are astonishing to say the least. It has opened in more than 300 theatres across the world (>200 in Tamilnadu alone), the movie opened in nearly 20 theatres in the city alone, and the first two days were supposed to have fetched business close to Rs.2 Crore. Rajnikanth reportedly got paid close to Rs. 20 Crores for the movie, the director, music director and everyone else involved have come out and said that this is as big as it gets!

The media in particular has never been given such a treat of an entire linguistic group going up into a mass hysteria about one movie, hence as somewhere else reported, the kind of media treatment to this movie has been another milestone. Never before has one seen the print and visual media spend so much time on a movie release.

We have read reports of the movie's first day first show from Mumbai, Karnataka, USA (where reportedly Indians bought tickets for 21$) and Malaysia. The film will be dubbed into Mandarin Chinese and released in the rest of South East Asia according to its distributor and he is confident that it will be released in more than 30 theaters in that language! The Consulate General of USA in Chennai attends the first day first show and thinks it worth penning his experience for a national daily!

But, my primary aim of this writing is an ode to the die-hard Rajni fan, to record the experience of the ordinary people of Chennai who have elevated their humble Rajini to a new phenomenon with this movie release. My chief source of information are the largest visible Rajini followers in Chennai, the omnipresent autorickshaw drivers.

Here is a summary of my interaction with some of them:
- 'I will be there for the previous evening show (special shows were arranged for the previous evening for the fans association members alone) and then I have tickets for two more days during the first week' declared my regular auto driver. A member of the local Rajini fans association, he stayed up late the day before his first sighting of the movie to get the wall besides auto stand painted with a larger than life portrait of Rajini in what else, Sivaji pose!

- Another young autodriver whom I met on the second day, 'I went for the night show on the first day, paid Rs. 500/- for a 50Rs. ticket, I also have another ticket for the next week'. Rs. 500/- is as much three days earning for an autodriver, how could he spend so much on a movie ticket? 'How can one think about all that for a Thalaivar movie?' he shot back. And, how was the movie?, 'Great, there has been no other movie before like this, the first half is comedy and the second half is full of Rajini'.

- A third autodriver said he had the opportunity to watch two shows back to back on the first day. So, how was the experience, 'they did all kinds of 'abhisekham' for thalaivar cut-out in the morning, from milk, beer to Coca Cola! the noise of the movie itself was high, but, the noise of the crowd was deafening. The experience was electric, I will go back later to watch the movie peacefully. The fans also behave badly inside the theatre, they insisted that the songs be played again and when the theatre authorities refused, some of them threw up the chairs, etc. But, all this part of a Rajini movie release and the theatre owners are prepared for these things'.

- Another auto driver, an middle aged family man, 'I don't understand all this tamasha going on, people are going mad, spending so much on a movie', so, will he not watch the movie? 'I will go with my family after the first month is over, after all this euphoria dies down'.

Meanwhile back in our office, the young man who supplies coffee has requested for an afternoon off later in the week, he has managed to get ticket for the afternoon show! The chap who delivers the courier beamed when he heard us discussing the movie and said, 'you can watch it once, nothing more to it!'. A cousin calls my colleague from USA and chides him for not yet watching the movie, he had managed the first day first show!!

Sivaji is a phenomenon of a movie. Such attention to a movie, a tamil movie at that is new in India. That the national mainstream media cannot comeup with a comparison in Hindi movie history, talks much about the state of Hindi cinema. One is tempted to opine that while Tamil is seen as a regional language in the mainstream media, it has stealthily marched on to gain a global language status now. But, the language issue aside, the primary reason for such a success is (according to my friendly autorickshaw drivers):

1. Rajini movies are getting few and far between and he commands the largest single following among not just Tamil speaking, but almost all Southern language speaking population

2. The magic of 'thalaivar' (leader in Tamil) is that there is always a social and political message in the movie; 'he should have come to politics in 94', said another auto driver, 'he wasted the chance, at least now with all the attention, he should go for it'.
3. Perhaps the one reason that everyone gives, 'he is a good man!', 'He has done much for people silently', 'he doesn't talk about how much charity he does', etc.

Ultimately in all Rajini movies, the good triumphs over the evil and there is a happy ending. That is important for his fans. 'Thalaivar' should triumph! And in his victory is their few hours high of a sense of transient victory, to be shared, laughed about, repeated endlessly. The ordinary Chennai citizen will go to any extent, spend much for this high, that the good will triumph! Until they have to wake up the next day and face a world that asserts otherwise.

The promise of success for the good that his movies provide are the intoxicant of the ordinary masses which sustains their sanity and provides hope and speculation, maybe 'thalaivar' will come to politics after all, maybe things will change like it does in the movie, maybe there will be heroes like thalaivar amongst us - if none of this happens, there is always the hope of another Thalaivar movie next year!

P.S.: The author is yet to watch the movie:(

Sivaji The Boss: Sudden Emergence of a Massive Film

Ashish — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 00:05:01 EDT

For a long time, Bollywood is the answer when one talks about the Indian film industry. In terms of news, awards, overseas markets, soft exports, number of movies, all of these, Bollywood (Hindi movie land) is the undoubted king. And then suddenly all this is in doubt.

The sudden and fast rise of the latest Rajnikant Tamil movie, Sivaji: The Boss has shown that there are other language movie industries in India that carry their own weight. All the things that I talked about in the beginning of this post are still true, but this movie carries its own facts with it, some of which challenge the dominance of the Hindi film industry.

Consider the following facts about the movie:

It is the most expensive Indian movie, costing around 95 crores to make. Now this is only $24 million, so is very small by US standards, but is fairly expensive by Indian standards

Ticket sales are astronomical in India, with movie halls being booked for days on end

Fan fervor is such that companies have booked halls for their employees on specific days

The movie is making waves outside Tamil Nadu, with releases in Mumbai, Karnataka, Delhi, Malaysia and other places such that fans are flocking

There are a number of Indian top notch heroes who would love to be in Rajnikanth's shoes. He is supposed to be charging much more than any Hindi film hero, more than Shahrukh or Amitabh Bachchan. In most cases (with the exception of 1-2 movies in the recent past), his name associated with a movie is enough to bring in crowds who book halls for days on end. He is almost a demi-god to his fans:

They broke pumpkins to ward off evil eyes, lit camphor to perform 'aarti' and bathed gigantic cut-outs of Rajnikant with hundreds of litres of milk. As crackers burst incessantly, the Tamil superstar's fans exhibited their joy by distributing sweets.

For the most expensive film ever made (Rs 95 crore) in the history of Indian cinema, Sivaji's first two days' bookings in just Chennai crossed Rs 3 crore. "It's a smash hit. With such response, it'll have a long run. Our investment will bring back good returns," said C T Valliapan, owner of Kamala Theatre. In Chennai, the film had a 16-screen opening. "We're housefull for the next 14 days," he said.

What is the difference between a Hindi film fan and a Tamil film fan? This is a very subjective issue, and I invite comments from readers, but my own impression based on experiences in Chennai and outside Chennai are the following:

Hindi film fans are also very dedicated, but somehow fail to have the same fervor as a Tamil movie fan.

It's almost like a Tamil film fan can have their opinions (at least politically) run by their stars. As the reign of MGR, Jayalalitha and the power of opinions expressed by Rajnikanth shows, people are far more inclined to follow the commands of their film stars

There are few Hindi film fans who will go to incredible efforts to reach their stars or watch their movies, the same as a Tamil movie fan would do (for example, when there were reports in the paper about how fans from Chennai flew to Delhi because they were not getting tickets in Chennai, it seemed very believable to me)

The story goes that Rajnikanth's birthday is an incredible event in Chennai, and I have experienced this myself. On one particular birthday, I remember that people in the office talked about that all day, and in the evening were worried that celebrations in the street would hamper their trip home. I don't think that any film star of the Hindi film industry would excite such kinds of emotions.