Vayai Moodi Pesavum(Thou Shall Close your mouth...& then talk!!!), Tamil Film: Life is Beautfiul

Panimalai is Balaji Mohan’s Malgudi.

A home to

A  wonderfully talented kid…

A Sahitya Academy winner….

A sensitive doctor…

A possessive lover…

An insensitive father….

A social worker who is trying to save the orphanage……

Warring factions of the society…..

A representative of the government…

And a pied piper who can charm anyone with the gift of the gab !!!! who believes Life is beautiful and it is our birthright to be happy!!!

And if we just did take the pain to listen, understand and communicate effectively and optimally, happiness is ours.

For the sheer nobility of his intent, hats off to Balaji Mohan.

And when silence descends on Panimalai, Sean Roland, the music director, takes off to treat us with vintage “Chaplinesque” music reminding you of City Lights and Modern Times.

Dulquer is a treat…..and all the other actors acquit themselves effectively….

Flawed, creative, experimental brilliant and hilarious…Do not miss this wonderful feel good film…. And do not miss out the fun the film maker is having making this film…

2 States: Formulaic, Juvenile and Irreverent

I did enjoy the movie for its competent acting performances and outstanding music.

While Alia would have sent many a heart flutter, The “Ranbiresque” and Nerdish, Arjun with his sunken eyes, looking lost always, rose to the occasion as and when it demanded to emote well. And Amrita Singh, when she did manage to bring that innocent old “Betaab” smile, the kindness in the mother permeated and warmed your heart. If I remember right, Revathy acted in a teleserial made by Suhasini about twenty years back where SriVidya was the mother and Revathy was the daughter. Revathy in 2 States reminded of SriVidya, breezed through her role. And Ronnit Roy stood above all of them like a colossus, stole the thunder with his body language and elegance. We look forward eagerly to seeing Ronnit in diverse roles.

Thank you ShankarEhsaanLoy for the wonderful music.

Thankfully, In all fairness there was no mockery about people and there were glad tidings about people being able to accept one another.

However, was there anything novel about the movie?

I found the approach too shallow, formulaic and juvenile .

As Technology breaks new barriers and as we evolve as a global village, we become better as we absorb the best practices of different cultures.

While we preach the virtues of being able to accept people as they are it is important that we also learn to respect cultures.

It was disheartening to see Mylapore being depicted as a village. With its rich cultural heritage, it is one of the most revered places in this country and has its place in the world map.

There seems to be extraordinary confusion about depicting Chennai. I think there seems to be an army of people in the movie unit who seem to prisoners of their own mindset.

Tamil Brahmins, I suppose they are part of this country. What purpose does it serve to make a complete mockery of a Tamil Brahmin Wedding..? I am sure, in about 2-3 minutes, you could get most beautiful visuals capturing the rich tradition, which is a part of India.

As far as Karan Johar and Dharma productions are concerned, there is no dearth for money. If one could create a Shore temple like structure on the Sea Shore, money is certainly not a constraint.

In all fairness to Karan, he did bring to the screen the most sensitive “My Name is Khan”, showing respect for diversity.

While other production houses produce movies in the  South, Karan, with all his money power, seems to have a strong aversion  to the southern part of India  and is conspicuous by his absence of activity In the south, but I guess it need not manifest into irreverence. 

Irreverence to any city and diversity (Am assuming TamBrahms are part of the city and the country!!!) is not acceptable.

Dear Karan, To your credit you got the national anthem most beautifully to the screen. Dravid is a part of that national anthem. You must walk the talk.

 

Nan Sigappu Manithan: An intoxicating new bottle

At the outset, a big hurrah for Vishal. It a joy to see Vishal, the producer, give his screenwriter and director the necessary freedom to optimally use Vishal as an actor. Vishal the actor chooses to play an author back script where he many a times gets relegated to the background.

After Pandianadu, this is Vishal’s successive date with a retribution saga. 

The movie has been well thought, well researched and presented neatly. The screenwriter and director cleverly neutralize the  sentimentality and despite the subject, is light on emotions. Three Cheers also for displaying amazing sensitivity. Especially for the helpless tears that gently flow down the hero's eyes... and the victim not even being in the camera frame many a time when the crime is being perpetrated...

The writing for Iniya is interesting and pretty much pulls the rug from under the carpet of other characters.

While there is an element of suspense, adequate care could have been taken to work on the clue to uncovering the culprit.

Had the director knocked off the four songs and probably edited about five to ten minutes…..you might have had a twenty percent enhanced experience.

It has certainly the elements of Super Star's flick of 1980s, but this is much more evolved version and has its roots in contemporary times. Super Star will be quite happy about this film.

A coherently narrated thriller. Not sure, if it is for the entire family....

Nedunchalai(Highway), Tamil Film: Video may be explicit, Audio must be muted…..

Prelude to the review

The Colours: Yellow, Blue

The characters: Peeping Tom, Gazing Tom, Two of the three Gandhiji’s Monkeys(Not the one with its eyes closed)

Festivals: Vijayadasami, The onset of Summer Holidays

Event: "Aksharabyasam", “ Sexabyasam”

Sponsorer's and Gatekeepers to the event: Censor Board(#CensorBoard)

The certification: UA certification for an adult film

What has all of this got to do with Nedunchalai(Highway), tamil Film…

With the onset of summer holidays, it was a houseful show, yesterday,  with 30% of the auditorium filled with children and adolescent children, it was a no brainer that Peeping Tom probably lost its relevance and then you could introduce a new word “Gazing Tom”.

I am not sure if  yellow magazines and blue movies will survive the liberalness of the censor board

With the onset of Vijayadasami is when Aksharabyasam happens, with the onset of Summer Holidays(@Rs. 120/- in Chennai), it is very cost effective way for parents to introduce their children to “Sexabyasam”.

Well the censor board, the gatekeeper, subscribe to only the two monkeys of Gandhiji, and anything profane to the ear is “scisorrable” and anything which is explicit to the eyes is permissible. They are doing a damn good job, our censor board is  the holiest board, they do not allow the four letter expletives or for that matter any expletive to be heard by anybody. Visuals are permissible. They do not make an impact on anybody’s sensibility. Explicit Visuals, even better, especially the adolescent, they turn their head away. With our education system, They just lost their curiosity. As parents it is becomes our bounden duty to accompany them and ask them questions if they have understood the softest elements of porn? How can they undertake this tumultuous journey ahead in this complex world.

If making money was the intent, the movie could have been leveraged for its coarseness, rawness and it could have been rated as an adult film and the movie could have raked in the necessary moolah. You could have leveraged the millions of unappeased adult souls in search of vicarious pleasure.

C.V. Kumar, Are you listening, this is untapped Genre,... Raw, coarse adult films, with steaming hot sequences.. targeted at the adult market….I am sure you are…..

As  a film there is no mistaking the craft and the potential. If the film maker has the sensibility and taste to adapt a scene from Amadeus, in the climax, then  he must watch the rape scene in “Frenzy” and learn how to make an explicit scene with sensibility and subtlety and remove the vulgarity from the scene.

I would rather appeal to the film makers, who have a basic desire to excel, to exercise restraint, rather than the censor board, who do not have any sense of identity, pride or responsibility.

Anybody has an idea, as to how to get the censor board be more responsible?

By the way, how do we get rid of UA certification...Are there any ideas?