Sivappu Manjal Pachai

Reimagining "Mullum Malarum"

Not  an instant classic, but requires considerable craft, to strip the finesse, and reconstruct a satisfying Masala film, that can reach the common man in the nook and corner.

While there are a lot of enjoyable sequences, Siddarth is  a standout performance. Wow. He has redefined what a ramrod erect posture can mean. Considerable hard work, including the toning of the body, to make an extraordinary impact.

For me the greatest takeaway, is that, no matter how boring a job can be, if the person is significantly invested he can meaningfully contribute to the job. Siddarth on screen makes your Traffic inspector's job, breathe with meaningfulness and possibilities. 

For Monday morning motivation, you could just dwell on the this fact: There is no job which is boring. A job just gets defined by the way you go about applying yourself.

Thanks, Sasi, for pearls of wisdom. By the way, what is the great sense of pleasure in the mindless violence. Just helps you walk out with a headache despite watching a good film.

Magamuni

The not so saintly 'Muni'

Somewhere after Paruthiveeran, 2007 until sometime before  Lingaa, Dec 2014, probably marked the golden period of Tamil Cinema.

We saw the brilliant Subramaniyapuram, Mynaa, Aadukalam, Azhagarsamiyin Kuthirai, Vazhakku En 18/9, Thanga Meenkal,  to name a few, We also saw the rise of Karthik Subburaj, Nalan Kumarasamy, Ram,  Thiagarajan Kumara raja, Ram Kumar, Balaji Tharaneetharan, Santhakumar again to name a few. 

God only knows when Balaji Sakthivel will make his next film or we never knew what happened directors like Deepen Chakravarthy, who made the most stylish Pizza 2. I am sure there are several other unsung heroes.

I really hope that we relieve ourselves of our "Mass" hysteria. For an insignificant portion of the big budget films, world class small budgets can be made.

I am so glad that Santhakumar has returned.

His craft is intact. This slow burn narrative is narrated without any clutter. The characters are so well written. I think the narrative would have been more effective with pauses and silence. The lighting patterns of 'Mouna Guru" return to haunt you in some portions. Thamam's BGM, I felt was fairly obtrusive to the narrative. Brings down the viewing pleasure by several notches.There seems to be a lot of references to 'Magamuni' as World Class. World Class movies, uses BGM very sparsely and effectively.

There is a most interesting discussion on God, on Chitragupta's Kannanku and on Karma.

I do have differences with the content, though. There is an underlying lament about the social disorder. There is the lament about the plastics, there is the lament about the caste system, there is a lament about the lack of trust... well nothing wrong Mr. " Ashanthakumar", but is revenge not a bit more thicker than a lot of the woes that were discussed in the film.

When commerce weighs heavy on the mind, even if you take a break, cut loose to be a traveler for long years, the baggage still seems to have accompanied you.

You can experience an undercurrent of Christ in Santhakumar's movies, but the Tale of Christ has been about forgiveness. 

If only Santhakumar can transcend themes of revenge, there are great treasures waiting for us!!!