The Finer Elements of a Mysskin Movie

To say that Mysskin is not a formula movie maker would be a false statement. For that matter the line wouldn't apply to a certain Quentin Tarantino or one Mr. Mani Ratnam either. Every movie maker has a formula in his heart. The ridiculous ones like tom, dick and Dharani bring it out in the plot. The avderage ones like Shankar show it in issues and themes; and the better ones like Ratnam and Mysskin in ideas, characters and subtle touches that are surely identifiable with the director.

In a short span of 3 odd movies, there already are many Mysskiniatrics. The dancing woman clad in a yellow saree being the most common and ridiculed among them. There are of course subtler touches.

Mysskin's handling of the camera is a unique. More than most of his characters in the film, it is the camera that speaks. Often mounted stationary in remote locations of the shot, the camera observes the action from a single point often giving the viewer the original 3rd person perspective which is often lost otherwise when the camera moves along with the characters. Such scenes available in plenty in both Anjadhey and Yudham Sei and have an air about them that often draws the audience deep into the sequence.

Many of his support/side characters, at least in writing are what you would want to call malapproprisms. The loud Kuruvi, The silent Motta, The shady Tirisangu and the shadier Judas... these people are made to carry with them not just the role but bits of what become the feel of the movie too. Often one finds Mysskins characters working their way up the audience's minds to create what the in other films the story is meant to.

Talking about the Superhero within, both Narain in Anjadhey and Cheran in Yudham Sei are the very real super heroes in that both the protagonists find the strength from within to fight an unknown evil. Watching these two people evolve over the course of a typically three hour Mysskin movie is an enthralling and inspiring experience.

The man is now ready with his own version of "a superhero within". I was happy when I found out that the Mugamudi-man, if you may call the protagonist that, has no super-power so to say. The very prospect of a madman like Mysskin taking up such a concept is very very exciting.

Kashyap/Menon - A Partnership in Review

Late in the 1970's, a relatively young yet already acclaimed film making career had almost come to a halt. Disappointed at the reception of his latest film, a musical, from the same crowd that had hailed his earlier attempts, the director dived deep into cocaine addiction and almost took his life. An actor, a close friend and a constant part of his films, literally dragged the film maker out of this mess and persuaded him to make this one last film based on the life of a boxer. This work is better known as Raging Bull and what these two men created over a period of time are probably the most powerful films made and acted out in the face of this earth.

De Niro and Scorsese....Looking forward to legend

Hardly since, has a director-actor collaboration come out with so much of flair and panache. Unlike Songwriting partnerships, on-screen pairs and even actor-singer camaraderie, raw genius in this species is rare to find. Closer home in India though, two men, every time they've come together, have sparkled with unimaginable brilliance.

Main Khuda... is what Kaykay seems to be saying

It all started with a zoned-out Kay Kay Menon playing his yet to be released, role-of-a-lifetime in Paanch - As noir as Anurag Kashyap has ever got - a thriller about a rock band story that goes very awry.

As a megalomaniac frontman suffering from a tremendous dawn of reality, Kay Kay pulls of one of the more difficult roles written in Hindi Cinema. Though nowhere close to the Kashyap of today, Anurag holds fort in what was to be his debut feature film. In fact many of his tad shadier films today still ooze with the dark blue feel of paanch in them.

Testing noir limits...at Mahakali

Last train to Mahakali followed a few years later. A short made for the television sees Anurag's influence of his own life in his movies slowly making way for issues more mainstream. Menon compliments him well in this film that flows well for most part but ends in a rather unexpected sequence.

Watching Mahakali today, after having seen works such as Black Friday and Gulaal, one feels that the magic was always present. A diligent screen writer and director bringing out his vision, bit-by-bit through his most trusted performer. The one man who could do justice to all those words written and ideas conceived.

By 2004, Kashyap was ready with his most sincere attempt at film making. A brutally honest take on the much more than controversial Mumbai blasts was 'Black Friday'. The movie for all its brilliance finds its centrepiece not with Dawood or Tiger but with the character of DCP Rakesh Maria - The cop who made them talk. The movie's docu feel takes a sudden psychological twist as Kay Kay's Maria gets into the frame and the interrogations begin. With arrested convicts, half the battles are not with the lathi but with the mind and it is but natural that the hunter, in this case the policeman, too starts feeling hunted. Taking cue from Drohkaal, better known for its Tamil Remake by Kamal Haasan, Kashyap takes Maria through a bizarre mind-trip that at various points finds the cop in his rawest of human elements. The chemistry is but natural as director and actor effortlessly carry the film on their shoulders. For the storm that this movie became, there surely was something bigger coming our way...

Burning for pride... Gulaal

Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of Bhosadike!, an enraged 'Dukey Bana' is seen shouting in one of the great speech scenes from Gulaal. Widely accepted as Hindi Cinema's best made political film, Gulaal, for me is Anurag Kashyap in the most sublime of his forms and Menon, his most primal self. While Dukey Bana is only one of the many interesting characters and sub plots that this film on a fictitious separatist movement throws up, it is the one that stands out. Creating a revolution while a revolt enrages within his own self, Kay kay manages to let the viewer read between Anurag's lines.

This was as back as 2009. With one busy with more than one Wasseypur and the other gunning for 13 different roles in just one movie, the fantastic duo seem to be going in very different directions, but then as their masterpiece reminds us, 'what is past... is (just) prologue'

Kieslowskii - Freak who freaks me out! Part I

I was really surprised and flabbergasted to know that some people couldn't comprehend even the simplest of simplest of films, Of course , I don't claim that I can understand every damn frame this film maker throws at me. But how on earth do you want me to believe that you have not understood the simplest of that he non-chalantly shows on screen. Any person with slightest sense of emotion should by general principal understand and comprehend what he shows on screen. I cannot accept "feigning". This write up is a lampooning attempt for a film which I have selected for today is "Krzysztof Kieslowski's: Three Colours: Bleu".

Like all his films, this film deals with distinct human emotions which we all can relate to. Any reasonable human being who claims not to have felt or come across these emotions needs to look at his life seriously.

This write up is not going to explain the plot , instead I will discuss about the brilliance of this genius. The story revolves around Julie who meets with a car accident. The accident kills her only daughter and her husband, who apparently is one of the biggest music composer of all times. The film deals with trials and tribulations of Julie and how she grapples with the sudden spate of changes in her life.

Julie is not the kind of heroine which we are used to seeing in some of the contrived women centric films , She is one among the thousands who is still trying to cope with her husbands death and of course her unfortunate change in fortunes.Now, before going into the details, I would like to state that, I am more concerned about the people who have seen the film and still couldn't understand why Krystoff is called one of the greatest and I would be really itching to call him THE greatest, and still debate on it.

The film is named blue for obvious reasons. The film has blue tone through out, but blue here signifies the memories Julie has about her past. please keep in mind this very interpretation as we move on.

Coming back to Julie, she is not a very headstrong woman who can stand up and come to terms with what has happened. It would be utterly illogical to show her as getting on with life after losing her celebrity husband and her only daughter. She obviously struggle's to come to term's with reality. Do you guys remember the first scene where a boy sits on the side of the road with wooden ball attached to a stick and he tries to fit the ball over the stick. The moment the ball fits the stick the car crashes, I am sure it was meant to be an allegory but I cannot comprehend as to what KK really tried to mean here?, That accidents happen by chance? or does he mean that it was meant to happen only when the ball fits over the stick, which obviously means FATE. It could have been anything and upto us to take it in which ever way we want to.

Coming back to the story, Julie is admitted to the hospital and more than the bodily pain which she suffers, the mental pain and heart ache seems to be getting the better of her. She distracts the Nurse on duty by breaking the glass window pane; As the nurse goes out to check the mess . She slips into the adjacent room(filled with medicines) and tries to consume random tablets in an effort to end her life. The nurse soon finds that out,and on seeing the nurse Julie spits it out. It was obviously the most weirdest situation to be in for Julie. She asks sorry for breaking the glass. Now this obviously should lead anyone to think that Julie thinks that breaking the glass was bigger vice than trying to end her life. Nurse quite quickly replies "the glass can be replaced". Just look at the way dialogues are written, if this is not a punch dialogue then what is?.

So, Julie recovers goes back to her country house with haunted memories (Again we can see shades of Blue). But after coming to a conclusion that ending her life wasn't the right way to go about her life, she becomes convinced that completely cutting her off from everyone and everything would do her more good, because she cannot even think of falling into an maze made of emotional strings. She sells her house, sells her antics except her daughter's Blue wall hanging made of Blue crystals and she wants to go to a place where no one knows her, no one can recognize her. Again her memories haunt her, she is not able to get over her husband and her love for her. What does she do? Calls her friend who apparently fell in love with her and makes love to him. The casual sex doesn't do any good to her rather it only rekindles the memories of her friend and her husband from time to time. She now goes away to Paris takes an apartment where there are no kids, furnishes her house with her daughters antique wall hanging. Every time, Julie has a ridiculous or a negative thought the blue shades turn to black. This cannot be a brain child of an average film maker at all.


Like memories Music too plays a vital part in the film, Since her husband was a famous musician it is obvious that music forms one of the best memories for Julie. She tries to destroy her music as well, throws all her notes she had previously written with her husband into garbage van. If you notice as she picks up the notes , the music is played in the back ground . The moment she throws it into the garbage truck the music fades out.

Well ironically later on in the film, you would find a solitary beggar playing the same tune again, and Julie asks the beggar from where he learnt it. He says that he composed it on his own. This is again a brilliant way of saying or rather a slap in the face of Julie that "You might have destroyed the paper having notes, but you cannot destroy your music". Life beckons her, her memories follow her everywhere she goes, but its Julie who cannot come to terms with her life. Haven't we come across such people?

You cannot even argue that beggar is not needed for the film, he is not the typical character we have most of the films there to fill up the screen space and time, the beggar makes her realize that she is important and so are her memories. The most striking part about the music in the film is as I said is as important as her memories themselves. A self proclaimed fan of Beethoven himself, KK gets in to the head of how a musician thinks about his music, how they write music. In the final sequence when Olivier and Julie try to finish the composition, Julie makes a lot of changes to the notes and she changes the instruments. Every time they run their hand through the notes , there is music in the back ground. Beethoven apparently thought about music as as he lost his hearing capabilities, because he could never hear it. I obviously didn't know it was directed at Beethoven but I am sure we can appreciate at how the music changes when Julie changes the instruments in her notes, from trumpet to piano to flute and so on.

She always prefer's to swim when no one is present, During the course of the journey to her new life in the apartment, she gets acquainted with a prostitute and make friends with her, both begin to share a good amount of closeness and suddenly Julie's heart is looking to confide into someone. One day, the girl sees Julie running off and she goes to the swimming pool to meet her,and she asks her if she was crying. Julie replies "no it was water". And suddenly group of children run and dive into the water.

It simply means people are forcefully starting to come into her lives again. the next scene is where she goes to meet her mom. This is vintage film making where there is a shot of Julie's mom watching TV, she is watching a man walking on a tight rope and Julie's face is reflected on the glass door which means Julie is also walking a tight rope.

The most important and the most unique scene is when she swims alone , IE , before she goes to meet her Mom. She tries to end her life by curling herself into a shape of a baby in the womb inside the water. After a few seconds, notwithstanding , she comes out, this means that she is reborn again. Again, I never understood the reborn angle of it, but you cannot possibly tell me that you never understood the purpose of that scene, which to mean that no matter how hard she tries; she is not able to cut herself off from the outer world.

I am sure this would induce movie enthusiasts in knowing more about this film maker, for those who claim to have not understood the movie, Allegories cannot get better than this. Decide for yourself.

UDHAV NAIG

Two Leaves, One state and that Romance -( Off topic)

Some ten months after I was born, the man closest to her heart (her only moral support and her political mentor) died. All that she wanted to do was to have a look at his dead body. She wasn't allowed. She somehow survived the trauma and went to the state assembly where some men headed by one of India's 'greatest' hypocrites ran out of arguments against her and resorted to physical assault. They tried to pull off her Saree. She survived this third grade act too. She would go on to survive a lot more in her way to create Tamil history. On June 24 , 1991 - J Jayalalitha became the first elected women chief minister in the history of Tamil Nadu.

From that very day it has been a very romantic tale. The people love her and she loves them back. And suddenly they are angry with her and she is angry too. They irritate her by going on a blind date with the sad guy and his family for five long years and they are too bored of his false promises by then. So they come back and she accepts the love of her life with open arms. This article goes back in the "sands" of time to reason out why she is definitely the better of the two things to have happened to Tamil Nadu.

To start off with, it is completely undeniable and a fact that Jaya would only be proud to accept that most of her even now growing popularity is thanks to her association with M.G.R. who for many other Tamilians means another three letter word staring with G and ending with D. In fact there are still remote villages in Tamil Nadu where people believe M.G.R. is alive and every time they vote, they vote for their 'thalaivar'. But there has to be something in the work and effort that politicians put in, in order to sustain the already available support of the people. And it is this extra effort that Jaya has put in without which it would have been impossible for her to be so popular despite being the target of a witch hunting of an unimaginably huge scale launched by the sad man who despite being in the political scenario for almost twice as many years as Jayalalitha is still not sure of holding on to his government for two consecutive terms.

Her first term as chief minister saw some of the most interesting ways of misusing power. We need pioneers in all fields and here was a very independent lady with complete control over a very important state of the country. She did do a lot for development but not a lot enough to attract the controversy addicted media. The most infamous among her notorious activities of those times were making Balu Jewellers go down under, causing a huge stampede in the kumbakonam mahamaagam, indulging in excessive corruption and owning a special 'collectors version' of 'wealth' :) [something which sun news (an open insult to unbiased news making) went on to publicly display a million times as soon as Jaya was arrested after being voted out of power]

But why did the media not look at the fact that during this very first term of her government, she banned high interest private loans, almost completed the Veeranam Water Supply Scheme for Chennai,banned lottery tickets to encourage savings, set up All women police stations, installed 'Rural Women Self Help Programme benefitting lakhs of ladies in villages, initiated the 'thottil Kuzhandai Thittam' which definitely is the work of an administrative genius.

Well one can't expect the people to take notice unless its told to them, and Jaya did not do this properly. More over there were multiple factors like the minds of Rajinikanth (offered a Padma Bhushan in exchange of campaigning - how lame) and Cho Ramasamy ( who genuinely wanted change and now repents ) which voiced for a change of governance and unfortunately led the people into a whole family of brilliant squanderers. Also known as the cement pirates, these men in charge of the state from 1996 to 2001 built more subways than necessary and took more commission than they could possibly handle.

But by the end of those treacherous five years from 1996 to 2001, an entire state was nodding in
disagreement with the way they were being governed. Jaya was in a pre-poll agreement with some similar minded parties. She went from district to district in break neck speed. Campaigning hard. Getting to the grass roots, speaking about the real issues. And what the 'makkal' gave her back was what she called the 'maghesan theerpu' - an absolute rout. Independent majority and complete power. And this time it truly was a golden era. Where there was a lot more right than most of the wrong. She wasn't allowed to be CM for some time, but she used puppets to continue administering the state with some great courage and caution at the same time.

Very good things happened to Tamil Nadu during this second term. The New Veeranam project was completed. The revolutionary 'Rain Water Harvesting scheme' was introduced. Veerappan was caught and killed. Video Piracy was brought to a minimum. She also carried out some very innovative acts like introduction of video conferencing in Jails and Courts, thus eliminating the need to bring the accused to extend the remand every time.

The best part, however was the mighty display of the iron hand during the teachers' strike. Though all political analysts say, it is this act of tough and near-oppressive administration that helped the DMK alliance come back to power in the next elections, I personally feel it is probably the best way of curbing chaos in a state where millions of people reside. 'Nethi Adi' is what they call it in tamil - she hit the nail on the head. And the people on strike had to comely come back to work.

But as it happened, an alliance of discomfort came together just for the sake of setting up their kids as union ministers and are presently ruling this state with the worst ways one can ever use to rule the place.

And you should see how the people, midway through this dreadful phase yearn for their mother. You should see how they react to her calls for support in the meetings. There is bliss and poetic silence in the multiple ruptures of noise that they make when she says "karunanidhiya thooki poduveengala? seiveergala?". The way she is campaigning and getting closer to HER state for these Lok Sabha elections are only a sign of things to come. The real romance will start in 2011. When the state will run back and jump into the arms of the real mother of theirs and the mummy will return. Again.

Udhav's Ode!!

I had a weird feeling about this film the day I watched it, I did watch the film 2 years ago and somehow never ever thought of revisiting it again, until yesterday. Until yesterday, it didn't occur to me that it was indeed a masterfully made film until 10. PM , 15/04/09.

Before talking about the film, I want to say a few words.

"Breath takingly brilliant and oozing splendor in every Scene".

This film has been an aberration of sorts from Spielberg, who has quite often been seduced by the whim's and fancies of the Hollywood's Big league. Schindler's list is a deviation from his ever present boisterous human chasing beasts and how group of men finally escape the repugnant animals to safety, there by upholding the human race of perseverance and all that Bull shit. To be frank and square, he gets on my nerves, why the hell can't he get a divorce from his first wife(Science fiction and animal chasing humans).

Schindler's list is all about the list Schindler prepares , in the movie, what is that list all about and how and from whom does he gets it done is told in such a poetic way forms the crux of the film.Schindler later goes on to save the lives of Jews who work in his factory, not only that, he makes a huge list of names of Jews and buys them, literally from Kommandant , there by saving the lives of 1,100 Jews.

I am just itching to write about various scenes where in I could just feel my legs go numb.

One of the things which strike's me the most was way the it was shot, it was meant to be a take on history and rightly so, it was shot in black and white. The pernicious honesty was the telling point of the narration, where in every detail of the horror's of the holocaust was accounted for, and how Schindler realized the demons of the Nazi party and got the humane thought of saving Jews. The Schindler's character has been written and etched out so well, that Liam Neesan was simply Brilliant!!!. I would have to take my hat off to him.

Steven Spielberg is the prodigal son of Hollywood, for him to come up with a film with such precision and a film with such a primp screenplay is some thing which needs to be appreciated.

The film as such deals with demons of holocaust,so....the fear and blood stains are ubiquitous through out the film,the opening itself gives fair share of idea of who Oskar Schindler is all about. This sequence gives detailed gist of how he goes about bribing the Nazi bigwigs to help him set up a enamel factory, for almost, throughout the first hour,Oskar behaves as a despotic Capitalist with vested interests, and of course the war and the inflow of Shipment, the prisoner's THEY mean, help him get the worker's for his factory for a very meager sum by just bribing the big dogs of the NAZI Germany. In fact the scene preceding the one which I was talking about, shows him putting on his silk coat, wearing his cuffs and Tie, and taking bunch of notes to the party. This simple narrative tells us volumes about the stature and nature of Oskar Schindler.

Another scene which I am Curious to talk about is "cleaning the Ghetto" sequence. Jews would have been housed in an incubus small area, and they would be FORCED to shift to another place, which of course is other wise known as concentration camps. Jews would just be HERDED through on to the streets and literally washed out, every nook and corner would be searched and anyone who even thinks of hiding would be Shot.

Of course, some try to hide in the houses built in the most eff able fashion for STORING the Jews, quite literally. The soldiers begin the combing operations to search for people who are hiding and they mercilessly kill or Exterminate them, one of the most gut wrenching scene I have seen. Spielberg's narrative needs a special mention here, especially in bringing out the psyche of the kid, a kid jumps into a small drainage of sorts, where they would be few other kids who would be hiding, and those kids would say to him that it is "their" place and he cannot use it to hide. Such beautiful melancholy could be seen in the way that sequence was conceived.

Another instance is where , Oskar Schindler talks to the maid of Herr Kommandant, the conversation between the 2 is straight out of this, they don't talk strenuous English nor do they speak with a complex tone, which you usually find in most of the period films, She says something like " There are no set of rules which you will feel safe if you can abide by it" and she goes on to say, "Herr Kommandant hits me a lot", He hits me more when I ask him Why he hits me, I just can't help but marvel the way in which the emotions of Jews are brought out, there is nothing that the Jews can do. They cannot even hope for a better tomorrow. Coming back to Ghetto scene, surprisingly there is a small girl shown in a Pink color dress, who later on in the final phases of the movie is shown as being dead, apparently that girl would have escaped the ghetto cleansing. No Jew could have escaped once they are into a concentration camp, such was the fallible nature of the kommandants and soldiers involved in these camps. The only motto was to exterminate Jews and build fear among them. The other scene which really holds my attention right now, is the arbit firing of workers from the balcony by the "herr kommandant", he just picks up a sniper and starts shooting the workers working in the field.

So, much attention to detail is given, that I actually wanted to cross check it in Google, for example, the gas chamber at Auschwitz , had been imbibed to the last drop. In fact, the very thought of the gas chambers sends a chill down my spine. Quite on the contrary, there is a scene where a group of ladies would be discussing about how it has been "rumored" that Jews are being killed in a gas chamber. Incidentally when the same people are put through the same rigors of getting their hair cut and getting naked, and sent into the Gas chamber and women just clinging on to each other was just too intense, Spielberg gets 100/10 for this scene alone, for the manner in which he makes me to actually experience the feel of it, women get so anxious and tensed and the showers open inside the gas chambers and what happens next is a suspense, I don't want to bell the cat.

Another place where Spielberg hits me for a Six is the scene where the Rabbi is taken out by 3 guards and they try to shoot him, fortunately the pin in the gun fails to work properly , infact the guard tries to shoot him almost 5-6 times, that moment is captured with masterful perfection and impeccable and true emotions, a very contrasting ones too. Rabbi feels helpless and he is almost dead before being Shot and the guards actually feel, Rabbi is a worthless man, its actually worth to "Just" shoot him and Kill him.

Simply magnificent.

Lastly, the most touching scene of the film was the Schindler speech to the survivor's, where he goes on to declare that they are free from midnight today and that they should forgive him. He even remarks to his guards to either Kill the Jews as per the orders or leave the place as honorable men. The climax succeeding the speech was even more touching....

Schindler simply breaks down saying that he could have saved lot more people, and Jewish women come closer and hugs him. The accountant who takes care of his factories affair's actually present's him with a ring made from his golden teeth as he tries to flee. The workers reciprocate the gratitude by signing a letter in favor of Schindler if in any case he is captured. Its such a pious film with so much detail's stuffed in, surprisingly, it doesn't simply become another UNTERDANG, but it captures the horror's of holocaust and the climax just hits it on the head as to how grateful his "Descendants" are for him.

Watch it for the experience !!!

POIGNANT POETRY ON SILVER SCREEN - Revisiting EK DUJE KE LIYE

The beaches of GOA are witness to the tragic love story of the waves and the rocks. A story which often ends in a violent splash. The camera then climbs up the stairs to a completely deserted fort with haunted interiors chuckling with the voice of a man and a woman deep in love with each other. We hear them talk about how they would want their love story to make history. The camera shifts to "वासू सपना " written with chalk on the rocks, walls and sands of the wet and slippery Goan terrain। I haven't seen an opening sequence as haunted with love as this one. The build up to what went on to become one of the greatest tales of love in Indian film history is simply irresistible.

But before we continue writing an ODE to this ODE of a movie, We should first know why the author of this post watched this movie after a long long time. It all began when Notting Hill was played for the nth time on my computer and the lover of Indian cinema in me rose in curiosity trying to figure out the names of equally good Indian romance films. There were plenty which came to mind - Dilwale dulhaniya le jayenge, Qayamat se Qayamat tak, Punnagai Mannan, Bobby and some others too. Looking into the nuances of each of these films, I realised that all these movies have in them some aspect or the other of One Single Romance film made by Prasad studios in 1981. The Mother Of all Twisted Tales Of Love. The quintessential romance saga. The most poetic set of romantic sequences ever scripted on screen. A movie whose very title is the most accurate definition of what love is all about. EK DUJE KE LIYE. एक दूजे के लिये । And I set about watching this brilliant piece of film making. I was literally reading the poem being enacted on screen. Here are a few thoughts about one of the most beautiful cinema I've ever come across.

Ek duje ke liye is like a compilation of all the K.BALACHANDER SYMBOLISMS that exist. There is communication between the lovers through night lamps switching on and off, clothes being banged on the washing stone, dogs barking and books being dusted. There is tea and coffee - the allegoric equivalents of the lives of two women in love with the same man and they get it wrong in the restaurant only to exchange with a typical K.BALACHANDERISH dialogue closely following. There is the Saree falling off the rocks and into the sea showing that the woman is being raped. There is a morphed naked pic shown by a local rowdy to the heroine showing lust. There is playing around with the bindi on the forehead to show the alternating emotional feelings of a widow. And then there is Bharatanatyam to show frustration, anger, love, disappointment, and every other human emotion.

All this apart, EK Duje Ke Liye is also the birth place of all the present cliches of Indian Love stories. This was where it all started - what now has been repeated n million times on screen was once a set of very imaginative ideas.The lovers getting lost on a trip and returning together(ddlj). The lovers having parents with basic difference in ideology and hatred towards each others cast and language.(mani ratnam's Bombay,x,y,z,n,) The lovers being asked to spend an year without seeing each other(suri,etc). The lovers misunderstanding each other thanks to unfortunate events.(every other love story) The lovers dying in the end of the story just when everything is almost in shape for a wonderful future. (aamir juhi - qsqt, and others).

And unlike its soul less successors the tragedy in the climax is not just for the sake of it. It goes with the flow and the mood of the movie and wrecks every nerve which watches the film. There is multiple irony towards the end of the film and that is probably the most difficult thing to write.

And, In between all this great direction and script writing is ONE rocker of an acting performance. A mega display of end less talent. From this gem of an actor called KAMAL HAASAN. The man is totally into the role. Beautifully essaying the part of a tamilian trying to learn hindi. A man mad in love, torn in between reality and passion. Fighting for love and survival of the love. Kamal does a class act. Apart from his absolutely superior emoting skills, Kamal shows off the gymnast in him and also does some daredevil stunts on the BULLET bike. His dance is a treat to watch as always. The polyglot in him comes to the fore in the scene just before the climax where kamal effortlessly essays dialogues in all existing forms of Hindi in perfect accent. All this, just 6 years into acting as male lead. The man is a genius for sure.

However any tribute to this movie would be incomplete without the mention of two more names. Two people who have got together to give 5 absolutely unforgettable melodies. Laxmikanth and Pyarelal in what probably is the most dynamic work of an all-blues composition for a hindi album. Starting with the eponymous track of hum bane tum bane and moving to the spell binding Lata Mangeshkar class act in Tere Mere Beech me and solah baras ki bali umariya, There is romanctic divinity all around. There is also vintage SP Balasubramaniyam in the very imaginative Lift song - The song of titles - Satyam Shivam sundaram - a high flair song with text full of names of hindi films alone.

The film ends with lines which are probably the best thing K.Balachander could do to round off his greatest tribute to ROMANCE. "प्यार एक अजीब सी भाषा है। यहाँ जीतने वाले को कहते हैं हार गया और हारने वाले को कहते हैं जीत गया। इसमे जीतने वाले शादी कर लेते हैं और हारने वाले एक दूजे के लिये जान देकर अमर हो जाते हैं."

The Seventeenth Year of 'Rahmanaddiction' - A Tribute

I remember. I was six years old. I was in Hyderabad. I watched Roja in theatre. I remember. I remember remembering only 3 to 4 scenes from the movie. I remember the super strong music that goes in the background when Arvind swaamy is kidnapped and later when he falls to put off the burning Indian flag. However , there are so many things that I don't remember. I don't remember how the teenagers and the twenty thirties of the early ninetees were pissed off with mani ratnam for breaking the golden combination with Ilayaraja. I don't remember how half of the other mentioned crowd and the rest of everyone else fell flat listening to what probably will be the best debut album ever composed. I don't remember how some one that year had got into every home in Chennai on an aeroplane called music. On an aeroplane called scintillating Music.

In fact, my first memory of properly (i mean proppperly) appreciating a RAHMAN album was as late as in 1995. Rangeela. That cassete with yaayi re, hai rama, the theme and the tapori song on its "A" side and tanha tanha, hai rama again and two more songs on side "B". Imagine how much of Rahman i had missed by then. In that gap of 3 years this man had made kollywood music his OWN. He had composed absolutely unforgettable tracks for Gentleman, Thiruda thiruda, Duet, Kadhalan, Bombay, May Madham and Indira. Each of these albums is a masterpiece on its own. Kadhalan had 6 songs and all six were individual chart busters. They were the only reason for the movie being a giga-hit. In that one album Rahman had composed 1)A national award winning carnatic classic, 2)An ultimate dance number which even till this date is the first choice of participants in any dance competition,3) A super cool jazzy duet and above all 4) A rap song in tamil that would be played day and night every week that year in all radios and TV channels. What versatality. The man was just 29 then. In the above mentioned albums Bombay and Thiruda thiruda are ample proofs of how brilliant the RAHMAN background score can get. Thiruda thiruda especially. The pulse of the crime thriller is completely captured by the music.

I have just decided that this tribute is now gonna go through Rahman's glorious career three years by three years. The next three years (from 1996 to 1998) saw Rahman's already super duper career go a huge step higher. He reigned both bollywood and tamil cinema like no one has ever done. Infact no one has actually ever ruled over both the worlds of film music . In what happened to be the starting of an absolutely DEADLY combination, Rahman joined hands with super star rajinikanth to compose Rajini's best opening song TILL DATE. Oruvan Oruvan Mudhalali from Muthu in S.PB.'s timeless voice gives maximum goose bumps to any rajini fan around. Unfortunately in Muthu Rahman did one bad thing to tamil music. He introduced Udit Narayan to tamil cinema and the latter went on to cut,butcher and burn Tamil - alive!! . On the music front Rahman made rapid strides this year. He gave an exhilarating score in Shankar's most powerful film ever - Indian - the Kamal Haasan starrer which required very powerful music and got just that. We also got some super-soothing melodies in Kadirs Kadhal Desam, HAUNTING tracks in Deepa mehtas FIRE, fresh musical fragrance in Rajiv Menons Minsara kanavu /sapne and to top it all we had IRUVAR- Mani Ratnams most technically SOUND film and that technically sound part of it is also thanks to the sound sounds that rahman created. Rahman went on to win the hearts of all youngsters with peppier than the peppiest numbers in JEANS, DAUD and Rakshagan. Then came the masterpiece. From his heart. Dil Se - Oh what tracks. The best of singers collaborating with the best music director in the country to give the best songs Krish King Nishanth and his countrymen have heard in years. Sukhwinder Singh is all soul in chaiyya chaiyya, Lata Mangeshkar is all poise in Jiya jale, Udit Narayan is all melody in Aye ajnabi and sonu nigam is all pain in satrangi re. Add to all this we have the Rahman himself in a stunning title track.

The goose bumpy combo of Rahman and Rajinikanth returned in Padayappa - formula intact - had one opening song, one 'hero rises from ashes' song, one sad number and two duets. A mind rattling combo of class and mass. We had more magic in Taal, Takshak, Mudhalvan, Kadhalar dinam and tajmahal - a film which even Rahman's music could not save from being a flop. Thanks to this star-son called manoj.B....

Then in the year 2000, Rahman did the UN-DO-ABLE. He composed absolute gems of albums on a trot - Pukar, Alaipayudhe, Kandukondein, Rythm and Zubeida - ALL IN A TIME OF A FEW MONTHS!!! - BELIEVE IT? No other Indian composer has ever been in such a music making form. Rahman was. This was the GOLDEN ERA for sure. This was the time when people totally fell in love with him. WE surrendered to the GENIUS.

2001 , for RAHMAN had a bang on brilliant start in Lagaan. The movie which almost made it to the oscars had a collection of very "made for the situation" songs - again of all genres and also had a 'well researched and made' back ground score. After a dull year Rahman struck back with the most patriotic album ever made in India- THE LEGEND OF BHAGAT SINGH. THIS album remains the "most played album ever" in Krish King Nishanths tape recorder history.
Kadhal Virus And Boys were hip and very very hot on the market. They made more money for the audio company than all their previous albums put together. Then came the super BGM and international glory in WARRIORS of heaven and earth. Followed by more hip songs for unfortunately undeserving movies like Meenaxi, e20u18, Yuva and New.

Then began a slight slide downwards in touch and form but Rahman kept bouncing back every other film with mind boggling chart busters like RANG de basanti, Sivaji the boss, Guru.
More international glory with Elizabeth:- the golden age. And more show of sheer versatality in Jodha Akbar and Jaane tu ya Jaane Naa - how different the two of them and how satisfying - both.

And finally ALLAH RAKHA RAHMAN - NOW JUST 42 years old - Has truly arrived on the International stage. A dozen awards for his soul-stirring scores in SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE iced on top with the GOLDEN GLOBE and high chances of being the first INDIAN to win an OSCAR award in a live category - Rahman has made it bigger than what anyone could have ever imagined.

But guess what? - This is just the beginning.

Bachao, Bachao, Yeh AADMI Meri Izzat LOOT raha HAI !!!

The People You see in the above picture are film makers whom Krish King Nishanth calls "The Gods Of Tragedy". In them, Krish King sees the future of good Tamil Cinema. He sees rational minds who can take Tamil Cinema away from its present miserable state. He sees people who are so much not what Vijay, Ajith, Simbhu, Sundar.C, Lawrence, Shantanu, Pee Vasu, Dharani, Perarasu, Hari and a million other like-minded male -formula- whores stand for.

As you can see in the pic, Balu Mahendra is the only guy who doesn't belong to this generation. But he is the root of this revolution - if u can call it that. Bala, Ram and Vetrimaran, Selvaraghavan (partly) were direct assistants of Balu Mahendra. Ameer was Bala's assistant and Sasikumar was Ameer's assistant. Myskin, to my knowledge, does not belong to this assistant tree but has emerged as a leading figure among Tamil cinema's new set of bright minds.

Whats so special about these film makers? After all, none of them have made more than 3 films till date. The fact is that these directors (except Ram, maybe) can be associated with a feat very rarely achieved in Tamil Cinema history. They are people who make non-formula films which not only satisfy their own tastes but also end up being loved by the audience. In short (as Bharadwaj Rangan once said), their work is the 'Holy Grail Of Film making' - Something previously done by a very few genius minds like K.Balachander and Mani Ratnam, who refused to join the rat race and made the audience love what they made and not the vice versa.

This boring post is ishallreview's salute to this set of young directors and their hugely impressive films. Their story is one which I am sure will be the talk of the town some day tomorrow. For they are the only few people who allow us to call Tamil Cinema as Tamil Cinema.

WHAT FOLLOWS IS THE PROFILOMETER OF THE "GODS OF TRAGEDY"


1.BALA


A STILL FROM HIS NEXT FILM - "NAAN KADAVUL"

FILMS :- Sethu 1999(Vikram) , Nanda 2001(Surya) , Pithamaghan 2003(Vikram, Surya)
+ Naan kadavul 2009(Arya,Pooja releasing jan 15th)

TRADEMARK :- The sad stories of sad men which almost get a face lift mid way through the movie only to jump straight into a deep dark tragic hole in the climax

MOMENTS OF BRILLIANCE :- He made the soul weep with "enge sellum indha paadhai" in sethu and again with surya's death in Pithamagan,(followed by the image of surya laughing in the skies)

PERSONAL LIFE :- A man with a whale sized ego, ultra short temper and a major addiction to drugs ( supposedly).

Mainly Acknowledged... :- For teaching Vikram and Surya the 'method' of acting. For giving us two of the currently most versatile lead actors in the industry.

2.AMEER


A still from Paruthiveeran

FILMS :- Mounam Pesiyadhe 2002(Surya, Trisha) , Raam 2005(Jeeva) , Paruthiveeran 2007 (Priyamani, Karthi) + Yogi (not only has he written the film, but also plays the lead in it - shooting in progress)

TRADEMARK :- Versatality Redefined. His First film is a romantic suspense story in an urban setting. Second is a crime, psycho thriller set in a hill station. And his third and most acclaimed film is a 'Village Tragedy'.( bharatiraja ishtyle)

MOMENTS OF BRILLIANCE :- The opening sequence in Raam, The first and the last fifteen minutes in Paruthiveeran -The fine line between magic and indulgence cant get can't get better than that.

PERSONAL LIFE :- Just out of jail for openly supporting LTTE in a public meeting. A very good speaker and a balanced mind. Has a solid opinion on all issues.

Mainly Acknowledged... :- For Paruthiveeran, which got Priyamani the National Award for best female lead.

3. SELVARAGHAVAN


Pudhupettai Poster

FILMS :- Kadhal Konden 2003 (Dhanush, Sonia Agarwal) , 7/g Rainbow Colony 2004 (Sonia Agarwal, Ravi Krishna) , Pudhupettai 2006 (Dhanush) , Aadhavari Maatlaaku Arthame Verule 2007 ( Venkatesh, Trisha). + Aayirathil Oruvan (Karthi, Reema Sen, Andrea - Filming)

TRADEMARK :- Gets as close to realism as possible. Scenes from 7/g... and his ghost direction - thulluvado illamai are ample examples.

MOMENTS OF BRILLIANCE :- Making An amazingly awesome film with dumbest of the dumb people like Ravi Krishna in the main role. Pudhupettai - the film as a whole.

PERSONAL LIFE :- Looks Very Shady. Has a wannabe superstar in brother Dhanush. Has a supposedly rocky relationship with wife Sonia Agarwal, is the son of Soft porn film maker Kasthoori Raja and the genes are sometimes obvious in his films

Mainly Acknowledged... :- For A stunning debut with Kadhal Konden (rated by Bharati-loose-raja as the best film he has seen after Nayagan) ; Setting the box office on fire again with a very realistic 7/g ; and finally for making the technically brilliant film - Pudhu pettai

4. SASIKUMAR


subramaniapuram poster

FILMS :- Subramaniapuram 2008 ( Jai, himself).

TRADEMARK :- He is just one film old and hence no real "trademarks"

MOMENTS OF BRILLIANCE :- Showing the killing of the characters played by himself and Samudrakanni in a way never shown before in Tamil Cinema. Famous Film critic Udhav Naig claims the Subramania puram climax was like watching a Scorcese film

PERSONAL LIFE :- Don't know much - From what I saw on Anu Haasan's show, He has scant respect for women, and has a very good sense of humor. He (unfortunately) wants to act more than create.

Mainly Acknowledged... :- For The perfect recreation of the look and the mood of the Madurai of 1980's in Subramaniapuram.



Every one runs out of patience and so has the author of this post. He has a lot to say about Myskinn , Ram and Vetrimaran. But has no energy. Hence he would like to finish this off in a paragraph or two. ( Anyways, I am sure none of u came till this part of the post :P )

Myskin- stunned the cine world with Anjadhey - a three hour 20 minute saga sailing over two totally different stories. One of a misunderstood friendship and the other of a new police officer and a wierd case to solve. Specialities are the characterisation of Prasanna, The use of camera, and The rigidity in narration.


POSTER AND STILL FROM "KATRADHU TAMIL"

Ram - The director of Katradhu TAMIL is my personal favourite among all these people. He has made what probably is the most hard hitting tamil film I've ever seen.The director excells in presenting this shocking psycho dramaHe uses tamil just as an outer cover to go through the life of a person full of personal loss and death.The best part is the use of "props" in the movie. Props which are close to the protagonist's life make a bigger impact than the protagonist himself sometimes.And a wonderful camera work + perfect bgm sync....


Vetrimaran - I like his interviews more than his maiden film - polladhavan ( which had some super solid action scenes) . He comes across as a very matured, very knowledgeable film maker who is sure to make some classics as well as blockbusters as well as both in the future.


TAMIL CINEMA :- Bachao, Bachao, Yeh AADMI Meri Izzat LOOT raha HAI !!!

GOD :- kaun? who?

TAMIL CINEMA :- AJITH AUR VIJAY

GOD:- WAITEES, i will send u "the gods of tragedy".


IF u are reading this article and IF u are reading this last line first, then iReview strongly recommends you to NOT read this Post.

Shabbba.
enake en mokkai thaaaaangala.

good night.

Legally Thrilled - A tribute to John Grisham

In 1984 at the De Soto County courthouse in Hernando, Mississippi, a 29 year old Democrat legislator who had finished law school three years ago, witnessed the testimony of a twelve year old rape victim .The legislator then thought about what would have happened had the rape victim's father killed the accused. He began writing a crime fiction novel built on this idea. The rest is not just History. Its a lot more than that. What resulted was the beginning of a spell binding collection of law based crime thrillers from the man who was not long ago (before a bunch of mug faced magicians took over) the most read American author - John Ray Grisham. And this post is a tribute to the man who should by now be privileged to know that Krish King Nishanth has read every word of every thing ever written by him.

The first Grisham book i got my hands on was 'The Broker'. It was in 2005 - I remember looking at that Red covered book lying uncared for in Atul's room. And I also remember Anerudh telling me that this book was way below Grisham's best and that he did not like it. I picked it up and read the extract part and the 'build up from the magazines' part.I was as jobless as jobless can get and so did not mind reading a book not really recommended. To my surprise by the time I was midway through the book I was in love with his style of writing. He forced me through the last hundred pages, a practice he would follow for almost every other book I read of his. And by the end of it all the irony settled on me. If THIS - supposedly "way below Grisham's best work" is THIS good, then what about the rest of it?That is how I started off on a wonderful journey. A legally thrilling ride.

Grisham's strength is plainly his knowledge of law. When you read his books you feel as though you too have been using the technical terms and the lawyer jargon for years now. The reason being He explains these terms without actually explaining them. His protagonist is never super-special. He is just another loser student at law school almost done with it, a jailed judge almost relegated to 14 more years at prison, a bored professor of law almost retired into the monotony of his life, a young recruit almost lost in the rat race of big firm lawyers. There is nothing special about them expect that they are 'almost' done till they bump into a case or an incident that is potentially the most explosive thing any American would have ever heard of. And this transition is not unnatural. It happens beautifully - Like a fluid rushing into the smaller end of a nozzle. Its so Newtonian. In their ultimate dash for survival, they are both aided and stopped by consequence. They jump past the unexpected traitor and cautiously walk into the unexpected friend, finally ending in a rare combination of supremely magical yet thoroughly believable turn of events.

Just a mention of the basic plot of some of his stories sends a thrill up the spine. Take for example 'The Last Juror' - where some many years after a jury of 13 sends an accused killer to prison for life, the members of the jury start dying one by one. Or 'The Runaway Jury' where a ferocious battle is being fought for the survival of the biggest tobacco empire and suddenly One man from inside the jury and One lady from outside of it start controlling everything the jury does. 'The Street Lawyer' where a well-off rich firm lawyer is unexpectedly held hostage and later rescued from a poor man in need of legal assistance, leaves the firm to join a low-level street law firm only to recognise that the one file he has with him from his previous firm is potentially the biggest case in the country and that he has to fight the firm he just left. 'The Brethren' where three jailed judges run a gay scandal from inside the jail and their latest target is unintentionally the next presidential candidate. (wow). 'The Partner' where a fat partner of a law firm feels cheated, fakes his death, runs away with 90 million dollars of the firms money and is finally caught and tortured after 4 years only to run away with it one more time [:)]. 'The pelican brief' where a small brief prepared as project work by a bright law school student lands her in the greatest spot of bother and gets her enemies more powerful than any one else.

All this is just a small part of it. There are more absolutely un-put-down-able classics like the Rainmaker, The Testament, The firm and a lot more. John is always at his descriptive best and he does it without boring us. One gets a super fine picture of the thrill in the waiting and then one is rushed into the climax. And the epilogue is the perfect down gearing expected.Its not just hit-hit bang-bang from the beginning. There is a very emotional build up to the events. Its as personal as writing can get. He explores relations as much and as properly as he explores law. And that is the difference between some one like Perry Mason and John Grisham's Heroes.

John, in a shocker of a decision ventured into sports fiction after he was presumably bored with crime. Out of the two books he wrote in this genre, 'Playing for Pizza' remains a delight. 'The bleachers' did not interest me as much though. Grisham has also got min- auto-biographical at times with books like 'Skipping Christmas' and 'A Painted House'. His non-fiction book 'An Innocent Man' is a great read if read in the correct spirit of mind. NINE his books have been made into successful and appreciated movies. He has also written original screenplay for a couple of films like 'Mickey' and 'The Gingerbread Man'.

Overall, John Grisham is, among many other similarly entertaining people, one of the best things to have happened in my life. To people like me who are strict practitioners of the art of time-pass, John Grisham is God and provides the very necessary moments of thrills that we yearn for. He doesn't stop with just that. He also creates a major effect on how we look at English - the language and how we use it. Here is Nishanth thanking John Grisham for all the wonderful works of his and waiting for more from him. Yours absolutely faithfully.