Velayilla Pattathari((VIP), (UNemployed Graduate), Tamil Film: The hypocrisy of an Indentity and the clarity of succession planning

As an avid movie viewer, I have trained myself to see the movie at two levels, the movie as it unfolds and the thought process that goes behind the making of the movie. Many a times, the thought process that goes behind the making, the constraints, the assumptions, the what ifs, the audacity, the compromises, the imagination, the effort makes for more fascinating introspection than the movie itself. A movie also throws light on the ambition, intent, nobility, or the absence of it.

At the outset, I have to confess that I am a big fan of Dhanush. I have respect for him as a professional who has worked very hard, and earned a place for himself. He has been a fantastic student and has a great grasp of the medium.

It is very important to make this declaration because as an ardent fan of his I am disappointed that he has not walked his talk.

First, VIP, the movie, The first half of the movie is dexterously weaved, except for an imposed stunt sequence, leaving you in raptures, and then after the interval, Dhanush’s quest for the father-in-law’s market share leaves the film and the viewer in tatters with all the punch dialogues falling on irritated ears.

Dhanush’s quest for his own identity resonated in interviews were he was heard, protesting against Rajini’s reference in the interviews. He had always wished that Rajini’s name would be a passing reference probably in the end of the interview.

With this kind of the pride still fresh in the memory of fans, it is not most the pleasantest of experience seeing Dhanush imitate Super Star.

The ambition of Dhanush eyeing for the Super Star’s market share is understandable.

With Dhanush’s capability and pride, as a ardent fan, it is sad to see somebody like Dhanush loose individuality. Where is the intelligence of choosing author backed scripts gone.?

To Tamil Nadu’s credit, a land where heroes are worshipped, Are we not seeing that the hero and the Star is slowly dying?

We have a truck loads of film makers and technicians, ruling Tamil Cinema. There is a sgiinificant cultural shift. Something we should be proud.

Wake Up Dhanush!!!

Earn it Dhanush!!!

Ramanujan, A biopic: A bounden responsibility to view, celebrate and introspect

Seldom does Indian cinema venture to make a biopic on a Mathematician or a Scientist. For the sheer audacity to conceive and execute this project,  Mr. Gnanasekaran deserves our respect and admiration.

The movie itself may be flawed, but it still becomes our bounden responsibility to view the film, celebrate and introspect.

Why should the life of Ramanujan be celebrated?

For me the Ramanujan as the autodidact holds greater fascinantion than Ramaujan as a mathematician.  In a sense, autodidacticism is "learning on your own" or "by yourself", and an autodidact is a self-teacher. Autodidacticism is a contemplative, absorptive procession(Courtesy: Wikipedia)

Ramanujan seems to have acquired a Book  in his teens, “ A synopsis of Elementary results in Pure and Applied Mathematics” by George Shoobridge Carr, The book was simply a compilation of thousands(6165?) of mathematical results, mostly set down with little or no indication of proof. It was in no sense a mathematical classic; rather, it was written as an aid to coaching English mathematics students facing the notoriously difficult Tripos examination, which involved a great deal of wholesale memorization. But in Ramanujan it inspired a burst of feverish mathematical activity, as he worked through the book's results and beyond. This in itself should be inspiration.

How did a brain without any formal education, split open the labyrinth of numbers, go berserk, to intuitively(for want of a better word) arrive at functions and solutions, for which scientists had to spend close to a hundred years to find a solution(like Mock Theta Function)?

Thanks to Mr. Gnana Rajasekaran, for sowing seeds of introspection.

In a country of a billion people, Is it possible that we have lost several Srinivasa Ramanujan’s over the years?

Do we have a system which nurtures scientific temper in this country?

Have we not spent a lot of tax payers money in developing institutes of engineering, technology and science, with nothing to really show for?

How many Nobel laureates or Fields Medals have these institutes produced?

Forget about the Nobel prizes, is there a culture of Research and Development in this country?

Are we still not feudal in our mindsets, Will we always remain insecure or will we usher in a culture of meritocracy?

Don’t you think it is our bounden duty to celebrate heroes who had the audacity to pursue their passion, despite constraints of penury and deep physical distress and brought advancement to the human kind and pride to this country.

If have an ask for Mr. Ganana Rajasekaran, while you are trying to create a honest reproduction of the biopic Sir, I would certainly have seen you exercise your poetic license, to show Ramanujam, more heroic in his conquests and less burdened by his constraints.

I would not be bothered about the length of the movie or the melancholy or sentimentality or the any of the flaws, it is enough for me to get to transported to an important chapter of world history.

Highly recommended for Parents to see the movie along with the children.

I really hope the schools in Chennai make sure all their students see the movie, discuss, and celebrate mathematics and create a fervor that it deserves.

P.S:  Ramesh Vinayagam’s music and the brilliant use of Thirumazhisai Alwar or is it Thiru mangai Alwar?, “Vinn Kadantha Jothiye” , another great reason why you want to see the film and , Suhasini’s effortless acting, probably her best performance till date as Ramanujam’s mother. My nominee for the best support actress for this year.