I like some parts of Cheran’s work but I never thought I would look forward to a film in which he stars. If not for Myshkin, this still photograph from Yudham Sei wouldn’t have landed here. Its only films like these that I look forward these days and not the Yendhiran types. Maybe I’ve grown old but hype works only in your twenties.

I hope Myshkin’s previous unreleased film, Nandalala hits the screen very soon. If not, the producers should release it direct-to-DVD.

Myshkin is by far my biggest hope of tamil cinema followed by or preceded by, in some cases, Selvaraghavan. Oh yeah, there is Mani Ratnam, as always.

Fanboy version of Rahman’s Hosanna mixed with the dance sequence from the bubbly 500 days of Summer.

First, a pedestal for Selvaraghavan’s Aayirathil Oruvan just like the one put up here for Peter Jackson’s King Kong.

Fantasy genre is a very special one. Just like Harry Potter lineup, if you don’t get into the movie, your brain starts questioning how Harry Potter didn’t hit on the brick wall when trying to walk through a pillar in the train station. Not all of us are hardwired for such instant leap of faith. Cutting down such crap with which reviews usually begin and starts to bore us with such psychological theories that the reviewer referred to before writing the review, Aayirathil Oruvan is a kickass film that should be enjoyed in a full screen without uttering a single word to the next seater. All you might know, he might have already taken the leap of faith and immersed in the movie and you are just thinking, how the hell can lightning strike on karthi while being blessed.

In any case, AO has stupendous writing, great pace, wonderful camera, immaculate art and costumes and ofcourse an apt finish to the neat start. The movie hasnt been pulled off just by the different landscape or thoughtful subtexts in screenplay but by the actors who have made us believe that the movie could be a true story.

And yes, the critics say that it has tinges of Gladiator and every other historical fantasy they have seen so far. Sure. For that matter, King Kong had big influences from Titanic and Jurassic Park. It was still considered as a herculean effort. And Selvaraghavan needs to be lauded for pulling it off with limited resources.

Above all that the movie kept me glued to the screen throughout the length of the movie. It was paisa vasool and I felt I should have paid a few more bucks for entertaining me thoroughly. Not a single movie after Virumandi had me tied up so badly. If you are crazy enough, you would love Aayirathil Oruvan. I pity the ones who hated it. You just missed an interesting piece of Tamil Cinema for who knows how long you would have to wait for another movie as gripping as this. SORRY!

Post from July 28th, 2007 -

I admit, I’ve been excessively obsessed with this song. Partly because I think Selvaraghavan made a crappy video of a cool song. The camera and Ravi Krishna eyes are fixated on Sonia’s bosom and I think thats a cheap thing to do, given the realistic lyrics and a great rhythm.

I propose someone to re-shoot it and make a pretty good video. Maybe with available resources, I would even re-shoot it myself at Seattle and edit it using Final Cut . Imagine this, as the electric guitar plays, a tall desi guy with a hooded black t-shirt, the mountain ranges on the backdrop, walks on a bridge while its raining. Cut it to a mall, a desi girl with her American teenage friends, walking past this chap with a wink in her eye, eating baskin robbins. Cut back, to the raining bridge. Cut again to wide angle shot, the guy walking on the alki beach with a backdrop of seattle downtown. I’m sure it will do justice to Yuvan’s cool beat. Some day…

I’m still obsessed with this idea of re-shooting the song. Currently looking for camera(!), help with shooting/editing, a desi guy, 2 non-indian females and a sunny seattle day. Coming this summer…

Kanthasamy may be good but the trailer sucks ! And the audio release function that was live broadcasted on Sun TV was a mass jalra event just like any other kollywood function. Wonder why Rahman was even sitting there the whole time.

I suspect the whole effort just because of the way Dhanu promotes his movies and then turns back on his heroes if the movie sucks in box-office. Susi and Vikram are betting big time on this movie but I have my own doubt. The premise of the movie that talks about a super-hero is all fine but I’m not sure how it would be executed on-screen. Let’s wait for the movie but meanwhile, I’m going to quit watching every single kollywood event like this.

Mindless rant ahead. Please feel free to skip and get some fresh air.

Was watching some random Tamil movie on cable that set me thinking on who were my favorite villain actors in Tamil cinema. I liked most of them including Ashokan, Nambiar, Radharavi et’al except for the pallakku pandi types but there were clearly favorites.

Raghuvaran and Nasser were on the list. But somehow my all-time favorite is Salim Ghouse more than anyone. Wierd, right ? That’s right, the villain in Thiruda Thiruda. He was also the baddie in Vetri Vizha. And right after him is Cochin Haneefa. Though Haneefa is now performing better as second villain or sidekick, he has enough movies behind him to prove that he could be the best. Haneefa got my blood boiling in Mahanadhi and his comical villainship is praise-worthy.

Next comes Kota Srinivasa Rao. Kota can be considered as the Morgan Freeman of Indian cinema. Puritans might have issues with that classification but I think Kota comes close to Morgan Freeman. And Morgan Freeman is my most favorite of Hollywood for the last decade or so.

How did I forget Sathyaraj and more importantly, Rajinikanth ? Rajini had some golden moments as the baddie. He performed better as a villain against Kamal. And I couldn’t recollect Kamal being a villain in any movie, recently except Kalaignan which was tremendously boring. BTW, I was in cuddalore when Kalaignan released and watched it thrice in three continous days. Those were some crazy days :)

Its probaby the 4th time in the last 4-5 years. Dude, Take it easy!

From Times of India article, Mani braves a heart attack.

However, it seems the news from Chennai is heartening and very encouraging, according to Gulzar . He was in Chennai working on a song for Raavana with Mani and A R Rahman when Mani’s health scare occurred. Mani was revved up and energetic as Gulzar and Rahman argued and collaborated over the perfect words for the tune.

Gulzar said, “Mani complained of uneasiness. We presumed it to be nothing more than creative anxiety. We all get restless and nervous when we are working intensely on a project. We had no clue it was a health issue.”

After a while, fidgety and restless, Mani left the recording studio alone and checked himself quietly into the Apollo hospital. That, according to Mani’s close friends, is the filmmaker’s style. He never draws attention to himself. Normally no matter how private a person, he would immediately ask someone to accompany him to a doctor if there was a health alarm. The super-reclusive Mani actually went all alone to Appolo.

3 Stupid Questions is not a mock. Genuine questions to be/not to be answered. I don’t intend to answer them but just throw it out to the world and see what happens(even if nothing happens). 3SQ will be served as often as I hit hit eureka with the next set of stupid qs.

1) Why do blogs start resembling mainstream media as they become popular ? So is blogging a reason to beat the bureaucracy, get big and become a part of it ?

2) Blogs written by non-sub-intellectuals still discuss Indian politics, explain ?

3) Hollywood has bad acting but not so easily spotted like Kolly/Bolly/Tollywood. Kollywood has bad acting in every single movie. Recent example, Naan Kadavul. What makes the difference ?

Mohanlal Version -

KamalHassan Version -

Kamal looks like Nammavar in his latest, Unnaipol Oruvan, except a little aged. But here’s the real kicker – Music by Shruthi Hassan. You too, Kamal!

A thousand elephants. Watch out.

The ‘ghaana’ Avan Enna Thedi Vandha Anajala rendered by Karthik is my personal favorite followed by a very SPBesque Shanthi O Shanthi by SPB Charan/Clinton.

And here is the original Benny Lava that started it all. Laugh out Loud.

P.S – Also watch Chiru’s Thriller.

The trolls are not going to like this. But I personally think Vijay is going to be the next superstar, a position that Rajini holds today. It’s not like he is going to be the next Rajini. For that matter, Rajini wasn’t the next MGR. He took a similar spot and re-invented it(or it was thrust on him, whatever). Vijay will do that too and we are witnessing it happen. This isn’t a post to compare and contract Rajini to Vijay but to think through why Vijay, despite the fact that he does some bad cinema, will make it as the next super star.

Vijay, like Rajini can evoke heroism in his movies. When Vikram, Ajith, Surya and many others have the same playing ground like Vijay, none of them have used it effectively like him. They wouldn’t want to do such masala films and its their prerogative. Simbhu and Dhanush look like kids doing vishk vishk heroism. Since there is no one else , as of today, to compete with Vijay on this, he is the next superstar-like-star.

Vijay’s rising fan clubs are also one other reason. He is treading on the same path as Rajini. Some might argue that Rajini was a better actor than Vijay. But that’s nearly an useless argument. Because after Thillu Mullu, the actor Rajini was long gone. The mass effect plays a very important part in turning an actor into a Superstar. We have more than a handful of samples for this. MGR, NTR and now Rajini. So Vijay’s fan clubs and his growing fan base(kids and rural youth) have made him into a ‘minimum guarantee’ hero for film producers. Not just minimum guarantee but a ‘big opening’ guaranteed hero.

So it doesn’t really matter if he has a small string of flops, he can bounce back provided the flops don’t keep happening. Pokirri, ATM and Kurvi’s failure at the box-office hasn’t affected Vijay by any measure. He will contine to have 32 producers lining-up at his house every morning and he has more than enough directors in Kodambakkam, smoking wills and racking their brains(not really needed for a masala movie) to create a storyline for him.

So what should Vijay do ? Nothing. Sit tight and stay the course. Kamal once said that he had to act a hundred films before he could make Raja Paarvai and Guna. So Vijay has a long way to go even if he wants to turn into a Ulaga Nayagan(which I should say impossible, given Vijay’s calibre) and I think he is on the right path of masala stardom.

His dad Chandrasekar, in the recent interview to Vikatan, talks about Vijay entering the Tamil Nadu politics. Whether you and I can do anything about it or not, its probably going to happen. Did we not see Vijaykanth making it to politics ? The legendary parties that made fun of him are now calling him as serious competition. It will happen to Vijay too. Good Luck !!

Previous Jabber : On Ajith

Man, that guy was a kiddo then. Neat interview. Cheers to the yesteryear Surabi Team and ofcourse Abdul Rahman aka ARR.

Best “village subjects” of Kollywood, Mudhal Mariyadhai and Devar Mahan[aka Godfather for Tamils]. That’s it !!

In the first viewing, I like the Krishnaveni motta-paati more than anyone else. Yeah, better than Balram Naidu and Poovaraagan. Balram Nadiu was definitely an accomplishment but it was too easy to play for someone as versatile as Kamal.

The paati on the other hand was off-beat, even though we have seen Kamal play a middle aged woman with an utmost ease in Avai Shanmugi. Paati’s plastic face was scary at times, but the characterisation, intonation and the slang was just so perfect.

What’s your favorite avatar of Dasavathaaram ?

P.S – And I hope someone would actually creates a personality quiz named – What’s your Dasavathaaram Personality ?. I’m sure the Aascar team will be happy for it.