Thandavam, The latest Tamil Film

We have a unique way to remember Mahatma Gandhi. On October 1, 2005(or was it 2006?), Ghajini was released. For a country that got its independence through Non violence, Director AR Murgadoss (who lamented as the credits of 7AM Arivu rolled down, the degeneration of a great country!!!) made one of the most violent flicks. The talented Mr. Vijay who gets inspired by almost all well made films and adapts even small sequences with extraordinary intelligence has now paid a tribute to the great Mahatma by adapting Ghajini on the eve of another Gandhi Jayanthi. Replace Short term Memory Loss by Blindness, Combine the revenge with the unrequited love you have Thandavam. While the disabilities of Short term memory helped the director whip up a certain excitement in the narration, the the tautness of Thandavam's narrative needed an investigator like Nedumudi Veni in INdian or Prakash Raj in Anniyan to enhance the tension to the story. Unfortunately Nasser's role has not been etched with depth it really required. Consequently you have a straight forward tale of retribution. The hype and publicity surrounding Dan Kish and echo location do not add to the requiredd tension for the narrative. Vijay successfully manages to insert his customary redundant duet near the climax(just like Madarapattinam and Theivathirumagal). For the positives, the movie is an interesting watch, the love story, part Ghajini, part Dum Dum Dum, is narrated with a lot of taste. As a hard core Vikram fan, his role is not entirely satisfying. While Anushka is impressive, it is Saranya, as Vikram's mother in a small cameo who steals the films acting honours.

Sundarapandian

Sundarapandian, is a rehash of Subramaniapuram and nadodigal, makes for enjoyable viewing. However one more mutated strain of Subramanyapuram may bite the dust. Like Cheran, Sasikumar seems to be deeply attached to his father in real life. It is reflected in the reel life. The father's walk tall.  Naren as Sasikumar's father blitzes through the film and gets a chance to portray a character that never betrays his build, moustache, gait nor voice. While most people aver that movie's primary message, is about being careful about the choice of the friend's, the high point of the film is the elders in the village getting together and resolving the issue of a murder and agreeing that revenge and violence cannot be a solution, the solution itself reminding of the good old film Dushman(Hindi)/Needhi(Tamil) of the yore. Lakshmi Menon performance in a few sequences in the second half is noteworthy. Prabhakaran the new director is a welcome addition to the growing list of good director's in Tamil Cinema.

Arbitrage

Arbitrage was a pleasant and a riveting little tale. Seems to have been inspired the life of Dominic Strauss Kahn. The protagonist is a variant of Gekko sans ruthlessness. Brit Marling may not be a perfect substitute for Carey Mulligan's innocence, but her value systems are iron clad in her lovely radiance. With Strauss Kahn, A financial fiasco on the Wall Street and bit of Good Old Agatha thrown in, mixed with a neat and taut script, what you have is Arbitrage!!!. The movie could have been even better had they taken pains to characterize Richard Gere with more shades of grey and black.

Reflections on Casting

Got to see Se7en after all these years. An interesting film that triggered plenty of thoughts on casting. IN Gangs of Wasseypur, Part 2, Anurag Kashyap in his opening credits, gives the greatest importance to his Casting Team. Not only was the casting the key to the success of the Gangs, but his casting of Kalki Koechlin who was cast as Chandramukhi in Dev D, when she was tucked away in Pondicherry, was a most extraordinary one. As a practising recruiter, I always wonder about how the exercise and the process of locating the right would have taken place. 

In Se7en, the characterisation of each of these characters and their casting was admirable.

Was amazed how a fidgety, jumpy and volatile Brad Pitt has evolved over the last seventeen years. When you see Se7en, I am not sure if Brad Pitt himself would have imagined his ability to enact the climax in Money Ball where he breaks down listening to his daughter's song. 

Morgan Freeman, with all his class, wisdom and erudition goes through the demands of the role as if it is a walk in the Beach. No wonder he gets plum opportunities like the voice rendition in the acclaimed documentary in the March of the Penguins.

Kevin Spacey is ever classy. You are not surprised how he breezes through his roles in The Life of David Gale and American Beauty. 

And the Casting Coup of the movie happens to be the dainty, classy, graceful and vulnerable Gynweth Paltrow. While closing a conversation with Morgan Freeman with a Thank you, her body just leaning and slanting forward a wee bit, with a mixture of confusion and fear in her eyes with just the right lip twirling a bit, Gynweth is helplessness personified and that is accentuated by her quaintness. Wish the director had ended Gynweth's character in the movie with this parting shot.

MUGAMOODI

 

 Coming after Anjathey, nandhalala and, Yuddham Sei, your expectations are very high of Mysskin, the director. The expectations begin to soar when the movie is also pitched as the first Super hero movie in India/Tamil. Then comes a first tweak in the expectations when the posters screamed, The Super hero within. And when you start watching the movie, the movie is dedicated/homage to Bruce lee. The conventional rules of a super Hero movie is that a Super Hero discovers powers which transcend human boundaries. The hero then exercises them and is exhilarated at his prowess and then applies to the general good of the public. While and after performing innumerable miracles his course of action intersects that of the evil and eventually there is a titanic collision and good triumphs over evil. The super hero concept takes a shellacking and the powers of the super hero are most ineptly defined by an usually brilliant Mysskin. The motives of revenge cannot be the reason for the birth of a Super Hero. Myskin also suffers under the compelling need to package the mandatory love story with the crime drama cum Super hero tale cum Martial Arts exposition, whatchamalit!!!!(Whatever you may call it!!!). In all Mugamoodi suffers not only from its screen play but also its positioning. Now for the positives. Despite the disappointments it is watchable. Hats of to Mysskin for his dedication to Bruce Lee and the most elegant and stylish stunt choreography, by Tony Leung, the Stunt Director of Enter the Dragon. Tony manages the create the same energy which was prevalent in Enter the Dragon, nearly 40 years ago!!. The cinematography, Editing, Music and the performance of all the stars is decent. However for a hardcore Mysskin fan, I just feel a tad sad. i just can't wait to get another helping of the magic that Mysskin is capable of serving!!!