'Uriyadi 2' bails out 'Ponmagal Vanthal'

There is a wonderful saying in Tamil " Tharmam Thalaikakkum. Thakka Samayathil Uyir Kakkum" roughly translates something like,  The Dharma that you accrued through you Karma  can save your life  at the right time.

I will like to take this opportunity to dwell upon the important "Uriyadi 2" produced by Suriya. I got to see "Uriyadi 2" in Netflix after a while it was released. As a movie it had its elements but failed to sizzle like its first part. 

But 'Uriyadi 2' is one of the significant movies that reenacted the Bhopal tragedy graphically. A very important moment in our history that every one of the Indian citizens need to relive, understand, introspect and feel miserable.

I guess Suriya needs to be commended for the fact that he produced an extremely important work which probably really did not reach as many people as it should have.

I guess Suriya's great stroke of luck that he managed to sell "Ponmagal Vanthal" through OTT Channels.

Despite the "Thailmarakalin Atharavu"(the support of the ladies) this pathetically made movie would have bit the dust.

May be the good deed of having produced , 'Uriyadi 2", Suriya saved him from a certain box office catastrophe. 

P.S: 

For the  husband and wife duo who want to be another Samuthrakani, I still believe all they need is a good script, a good director.

May be they should seriously consider adapting "Revolutionary Road" and act in it themselves. It will set ablaze the hearts and rip it apart too. Jyotika  in a way is in the mould of Kate Winslet and will be a perfect fit. The movie has plenty of messages too.

Paatal Lok, Streaming on Prime

A brilliant subtext and a searing social commentary.

A not bad thriller, that is probably insignificant, given the intent and the ambitions of it makers.

Not a single  opportunity is wasted to examine the plight of the mere mortals, the pawns, that seemed to get tossed and torn by the powers that have us in their vice like grip.

Perhaps, I did not view this as a thriller at all. The genre was an excuse to look at the systemic decadence, malaise and a farce that has set in. The sub text and the social commentary for me made the thriller insignificant. Most importantly movie focused on human redemption and the win loss column as perceived by the individual was more important than that imposed by the society. In exorcising his ghosts out, a visibly relieved Hathi Ram ( the protagonist), redeems himself in the end. 

The underlying message is the same as that of 'Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron"(only the genre differs) that nothing much can done about the system, but this movie goes one step ahead, and drives home a bonus, that individuals are masters of their destiny. irrespective of systemic malaise, we are the ones that control our fate.

At the end you felt like having watched SONI instead of an Ardh Sathya, 

Try not to miss this!!!

Devasuram, 1993, Malayalam Movie

Streaming on Amazon Prime

A Mohan Lal mesmerizer

I was just wondering how in the world did I miss this addicting drama, with its innumerable twists all these years. A great Masala Mix. Takes a while to take off, but once things start settling down, you just cannot have enough of Mohan Lal.

Mohan Lal is so virile even when is mauled by truckload of Goondas. It is such a treat to see Mohan Lal simply appear on the screen. 

Mohan Lal is probably at his charismatic best. I did not mind, what he was doing, I think he never looked this good in any of his movies. Was it the eyes that mesmerized you?  Was it the swag that bowled you over? Were you bewitched by the kindness that replaced the cruelty effortlessly? Not very sure, if Lalettan uses those facial muscles very much. I think he uses his eyes to great effect, combined, with intoxicating voice modulation and effective body language to hand a knock out punch.

You don't want to miss Devasuram, for Mohan Lal.

40/40, #Lockdownenrichmentforthesoul, Tamil Movie Recommendation

Chandralekha, 1948, S.S Vasan and Avviayar, 1953, Directed by Kothamangalam Subbbu and Produced by S.S. Vasan

This is my last edition in the lockdown series. Here is hoping that the lockdown will be removed on the 18th May 2020. Stay Safe.

The best and the greatest achievements are always reserved and to savoured last.

Subramaniam Srinivasan (4 January 1904 – 26 August 1969), popularly known by his screen name S. S. Vasan, was an Indian journalist, writer, advertiser, film producer, director and business tycoon. He is the founder of the Tamil-language magazine Ananda Vikatan and the film production company Gemini Studios, Gemini Film Laboratories and Gemini Picture Circuit. He was a member of parliament (Rajya Sabha) from 1964 and served his term till his death.

The greatest risk takers are the ones that have perpetually propelled the fortunes of this planet. Risk takers may look foolish many a times, but their actions have always benefited plenty of people.

Vasan is supposed to have produced Chandralekha, the first film outside United States in 1948 with a budget exceeding a million dollars.

Chandralekha took five years to finish. And nothing was the same from start to finish. The script, cast, budget, directors everything changed. And in a trade where mountains of cash vanish into thin air, even Mrs.Vasan’s jewellery took a heavy beating. The fantastic sets of palaces, moat and draw-bridge were not cardboard structures but could withstand the weight of riding horses. (Courtesy Venkatesh Ramakrishnan, 2018, DT Next)

Chandralekha was released on 9 April 1948. Although the film received generally-positive reviews, it did not recoup its production costs. Vasan directed a Hindi version with some changes, including re-shot scenes, a slightly altered cast. The Hindi version was released on 24 December of that year, becoming a box-office success. Southern cinema became prominent throughout India with the film's release, and it inspired Indian producers from the south to market their Hindi films in the northern part of the country

Avvaiyar, 1953

As good as it gets

Courtesy Wikipedia:

Vasan wanted to make a film on saint poet Avvaiyar from 1941 and had given instructions to his story department to conduct research on the life and times of the famed poet and work on a draft script. More than two years were invested in the research.

Vasan screened the rough cut of Avvaiyar. His friends, staff members and their families were invited and asked to give their opinion in writing. Vasan would study all the material carefully. Well-known journalist of Ananda Vikatan who wrote under the pen name, 'Kadhir' explained that the film was slow, crawling on leaden feet with practically nothing much happening at all! It had Sundarambal walking slowly most of the time. It looked more like a documentary and not at all like a feature film. Vasan stared at him for a while and then smiled. He told his team that Kadhir was absolutely correct! He too had the same opinion and wanted to have a second opinion. He told Subbu and others that the film lacked entertainment. Immediately, he ordered the screenplay to be rewritten incorporating sequences of entertainment to elevate the box-office potential and audience appeal of the movie. That's when the sequence of the grand reception by the ancient Tamil king Paari to Avvaiyar was written to be woven into the script.

Subbu wrote it, making it an entertainment extravaganza on its own and the sequence was shot at considerable expense. An entire street set was built at a cost of Rs. 1.5 lakh, which was big money in the 1950s. Over 10,000 junior artistes took part in the spectacular sequence into which traditional folk dances were incorporated, creating a majestic visual impact on moviegoers. The sequence proved to be one of the highlights of the film.

#39/40, #Lockdownenrichmentforthesoul, Tamil Movie Recommendation

A.V. Meyappan, AVM Studios and T.R. Sundaram, Modern Theatres

Born 12 days apart, in July 1907, these two gentlemen contributed to the Tamil industry like nobody's business.

T.R. Sundaram, Born 16th July 1907

During my research on Sridhar, I understood that while working in Modern Theatres as writer for the film Maheswari, Sridhar had an opportunity to improve his knowledge and skills about film production.T. R. Sundaram had a huge library of international books about great films and directors, about film production, critical and technical essays.

T.R. Sundaram's seems to have got into film production like A.V. Meyappan around the mid thirties. 

He produced and directed several films in Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Sinhalese and English. A total of 96 films were produced at Modern Theaters of which 56 of them were directed by Sundaram. These numbers could be slightly different. i guess this gives a good idea.

Among his several achievements he has also the credit of producing the first Malayalam Talkie film and also the first colour film in Malayalam. 

When the zoom lens was not invented, Modern theatre replicated the zoom lens for their film Ponmudi, and were recognized for their effort by the French government. 

One of the interesting experiments which Modern films did was to seek opinion to cast the hero and heroine in their film in the 1940s.

Interestingly their film Sow Sow, 1963, (courtesy wikipedia) the first film to have three separate stories within the same film.

They were also the first produce a film in geva colour and may be they were the first to come up series/sequels through their "Vallavan" movies.

They were also possible in the rise of MGR as a bankable star giving him a clutch of hits.

Today's movie recommendation is Alibabavum 40 Thirudarkalum and Vallavanukku Vallavan

A.V. Meyappan, born 28th July 1907

A.V. Meyyapan, started producing films at about the same time as T.R. Sundaram in the mid thirties.

While AVM Studios may have produced about 300 films, there is a distinctive difference in the quality of the films produce till Mr. Meyyappan, senior himself was at the helm of affairs.

There can be no production house which can boast of making so many clean socially conscious films providing wholesome entertainment.

I guess it is important to note that Mr. Meyappan started his business during the pre-indepence era and the independence movement seems to have lifelong effect on him.

Business was important but the quality of content and the choice of subjects were equally important.

Today's movie recommendation:

Naam Iruvar and Vedhala Ulagam, Both of these films were enriched by Bharathiar Songs. The comedy in Vedhala Ulagam will have you in splits.

Mr. Meyyapan's work and life deserves greatest respect. But it is with regret that I would like record my disappointment that his sons never bothered to respect their father's philosophy.

While most of the movies they produced were commercially successful, they bordered on the substandard, except for a few. While most of the work is eminently forgettable, they will never be absolved of the crime of producing "Sakalakalavan", a most degenerate movies of our times that pushed behind Tamil Cinema by 10 years . I have no mind to forgive Ilayaraja and S. Janaki for "Nila Kayuthe". When the culture of speakers blared across the nook and corner of the state, Ilayaraja and Janaki did yeoman service, knocking of innocence across a large section of population. 

Alas, making money alone seem to have become the motto of this great production house!!!

#38/40, #Lockdownenrichmentforthesoul, Tamil Movie Recommendation

Nenjil Oru Alayam, 1962, and Kadhalikka Neramillai, 1964, CV Sridhar

This edition will be coming to an end on Sunday. 

Reasonably good works of talented film makers and their creations between 1970 and 2019 have been discussed.

I had the opportunity to visit only 4 films between 1950 and 1970.

In these 3 days, we shall discuss the contributions of 4 giants of the Tamil Industry who contributed to the rise of Tamil Cinema.

C.V. Sridhar was supposed to come up in the fourth installment of this edition and somehow got missed out.

It would have been a crime to have not written or discussed about C.V. Sridhar, a prolific film maker, who made 60 films in all across, Tamil, Hindi and Telugu.

Sridhar is one of the finest film makers who understood the visual medium so well. You may well just sample the climax in Sumaithangi, and get a taste of that stunning climax. In the context of Tamil Cinema, where reels and reels of dialogues where doled out, Sridhar's protagonist, does not defend his decision but merely walks away to the utter dismay of his relatives/friends. A visual speaks a thousand words. 

Is also arguably the first director to have addressed the three act structure of the screen play. Extraordinary was his ability to conjure those variety of shots. Sample "Sonnathu nee thana", in 'Nenjil oru Alayam' and be prepared to be drenched in the magnificence of the variety of shots. These shots daintily dance to the music. 

Sridhar will be the man who will remain probably the only film maker who was extremely comfortable in Comedy and Tragedy, one for the brain and one for the soul(heart seems to be an inferior choice, given Sridhar's quality of grief).

Between comedy and tragedy, Sridhar seems to be more comfortable doing the tragedy. He seems to be in seething anger against the path of destiny and uses it as an excuse to explore the goodness that is innate within the human being and the Himalayan heights that it can soar and redeem itself. 

His comedic pursuits paid rich dividends, thanks to his association with Chitralaya Gopu. Kadhalikka Neramillai, will remain one of the best ROM COMS for me. I find it difficult to choose between Anbe Vaa and Kathalikka Neramillai.

Whether it was a comedy or tragedy, there was no clutter in his films. Great story telling. Sridhar's association with cameraman A. Vincent, ensured that his movies were that much aesthetically shot. So much more was packed in a frame

Sridhar, will always be remembered for his great song selections. Not only did he revel in those great songs that adorned his pictures in the 50s and 60s, he had Ilayaraja compose Ninaivellam Nithya and Thendraley ennai Thodu, with some gold standard numbers.

Sridhar, always young, super stylish had a significant western influence. 

An unforgettable film maker, who lives in our hearts forever.