Movie Madness

[kunjuppu]

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Nanjupuram

Nanjupuram

This is a story set in very very rural southern tamil nadu. one can see the hills of the ghats in the background of this isolated village, with not even bus service, let alone electricity, flowing water or flush toilet.

There are only two groups, the upper castes, who are non Brahmins and the dalits. The uc live in stone houses, paved road, the dalits in huts further away from the town, in a hamlet of their own.

The hero raghav falls in love with a dalit girl monica. Monica has no father, her mother is a kept woman, vappaatti, of a local big wig, who comes regularly for sexual favours for money. Monica’s mother is also the village butcher and monica, after school, delivers meat to the homes of the upper castes.

Right from the beginning the caste tensions are evident in the way folks talk, behave and above all, keep exclusive.

The main theme of the story is ofcourse the huge snake pit near the village, and the large numbers of snakes which apparently strike fear into the minds of the people. The snakes are worshipped, pacified and avoided.

One episode which was interesting is the treatment of the snake bite. The locals go to the vaidyan, who uses folk medicine and along with it, some common sense. No allopathy treatment here. And it works!

The hero heroine look rustic, just like the environment of the movie. The actors are unknowns. The story is from folk tales that tamil nadu villages are made of. So is the caste set up. Everyone knows their place.

The hero ends up marrying the heroine, and also being killed, for doing so.

Maybe we tambrams, instead of feeling relieved or smug, about the intercine warfare of the castes, can take a step forward towards reconciliation and enlightenment. It involves a certain amount of introspection, and acceptance of responsibility for the initatiation of castes, of our own erstwhile position at the top of the totem pole, and perhaps apolgiziing to the dalits for their predicament. We do not have to kill a dalit, but enough to put the poison in the mind of a devar or vellalar. I think that is the situation today in tamil nadu villages in a capsule. Though this might be changing fast too. for the better.

Nanjpuram, not sure if it was released. If so, probably flopped. It was seen by some as flogging Christianity, by portraying worship of snakes in a bad light. I doubt it.

A good rustic movie in a rural setting. An eye opener for an urban tambram like me

3

 

[kunjuppu]

Vishwa Thulasi

i came to see this movie in a roundabout movie.

nandita das is one of those superb indian beauties of dark complexion. one would find it difficult not to stare at such perfection of face and figure. add to this beauty, is a inner goodness, which has shown itself by her involvement in worthwhile causes, and to speak out against injustices, of which, many thrive in our motherland.

so, it was with great pleasure, i read a posting in the web, thus, and this observer is an investment banker...

At a panel on giving where Nandita Das spoke In response to the moderator asking if "given the fragmentation in the non-profit space, it would bring more efficiency into the system if we had more M&A and consolidation activity" she listened patiently to what everyone else said and then goes, "I know very little about corporate life but I got this image of a large organization coming and eating a small one. What is M&A exactly?" then went on to explain how small customized solutions are as important as large organizations with measurable impact. Made my day. She is amazing

this sparked my memory of a nandita das movie, kannaththil muththamittaal, that i had seen, and i wished to see another one.

sure enough, thanks to wikipedia, i found this rare gem, vishwa thulasi.

a little over 100 minutes, a story set in kerala, but in tamil - a border region that i am familiar and of my heritage. this must be the only film where the hero mammootty and heroine nandita do not talk to each other till about 20 minutes before the movie ends.

it is a tale of young love lost, and rediscovery at a mature stage. a very poignant and touching instance of two lovers, pining away,but giving in to what they believe is society's norms, and their inability to change.

this movie is available free on the net. incidentally m.s.vishwanathan & ilayaraja composed the music, which like movies of the 40s, has songs bursting in for brief periods throughout the movie. numerous songs to keep track but all very melodious.

the countryside could be home town of the 1950s. the tharvaadus, the narrow lanes, the unven lots, where one enters a compound from the streets with steps, the wells with stairs inside and above all the village bhagavathy temple with its ominous undertones.

it is a slow moving movie. the author/dialoguer/director is america based sumathy ram, and the movie funded by ramki ramakrishnan, her loving i presume. maybe he is a doctor or a dot.com millionaire to afford such a gift to his wife.

mammootty nandita das, ofcourse excel, and that itself is an understatement.

if you get a chance, watch it.

4

 

[kunjuppu]

Veetukku Veedu

சுவையான சீடை. this was how kumudham reviewed it back in 1970. i remember seeing it as a morning show, sponsored by our sabha, kapali fine arts, with my family.

throughout these years, i have been yearning to see it again, and thanks to modern technology, could see it, in toronto, in my p.c. thanks million times to all those smart people who made this happen

the movie has stood the test of time well. it is 41 years since release and i laughed just as loud at every scene and hurt my belling bellowing at many instances.

there is no complex story but only a series of comedy mishaps, bound together entertainingly by excellent dialogues from gopu, and equally excellent acting by lakshmi, jaishanker, muthuraman, vennira aadai nirmala, vkramaswamy and much much more by nagesh.

nagesh's rendition of ம்ம்ம்மம்மாட்டிக்கிட்டாங்க still rings in my ears, and i wonder, how i could have forgotten it so long. he was at his peak, and his mastery in entertaining us in silly roles shows that he has no par, even now.

major sundararajan acts as major, and no surprise there. my favourite song is அந்தப்பக்கம் வாழ்ந்தவன் ரோமியோ by sai baba

http://gaana.com/#/albums/Veettukku_Veedu_8381

nagesh is simply superb in this song.

on a personal side, the producer babu movies, c.sundaram, was my neighbour two houses removed. i grew up with his sons, two of whose names were in the credits - suryaprakash (babu) and rajan. there were telugu speaking naidus, who contributed to the variety that was the essence of my growing up in madras of those days.

4

the movie is no longer copyrighted. it is available in youtube

Veetukku Veedu Tamil classic Movie - YouTube

enjoy it, if you would enjoy a black and white, 1970 movie with a surprisingly bold theme of female assertiveness as presented in a light hearted way.

here is an interesting discussion of this movie in dhool.com along with a reference to a remake, of which i have not heard.

http://www.dhool.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1276

 

[rhind]

Taste of Cherry

A fantastic Iranian movie (Available in youtube with English subtitles) by Abbas Kiarastami. This is about a relatively wealthy man from Tehran moving around in his car asking a select people for a help, for which in turn he is ready to give lots of money and also his car in return. The help is to bury him in a grave which he has already dug for himself. He says to the prospective helpers that they have to come the next day morning to check if he is alive by shouting his name. If yes, they have to help him by bringing him out of the grave. If he is found dead they have to cover him with sand. You need some patience to watch this movie. But you'll never forget this movie during your life time. I have watched it at least 5 times now.

-Ram

 

[kunjuppu]

7aam aRivu - movie review

7aam arivu – movie review

We had a chance to see it matinee in a regular Toronto mainstream theatre. Total audience 15, of which 6 were school going kids, two of them couples sneaking away, probably without the knowledge of their parents. All except us, sri Lankans.

I was very impressed by the way the movie started, reaching back to 1600 years, about the pallava prince bodhivarman, who took the tamil arts and medicines to china, and who is still remembered there. but not anymore in the land of his birth.

The current day plot by Chinese government against india, is something of a stretch, but in a movie, anything is possible, I guess. That we have a pretty shruthi hasan as a biotech engineer dabbling in geneology and remembered memory and skills, is in itself an interesting concept.

In a somewhat perverse way, this shruthi’s work, may support the view, of racial superiority for if our genes and skills are related, this effectively dismisses that sons and daughters of lavatory cleaners, are good for nothing else, as in their genes, all they would know is how to clean latrines. I did not like this assumption.

Later in the movie, there is both shruthi and surya’s diatribe against current practice of tamil nadu – I quote ‘in the name of reservation …. We drive out our best and brightest to usa and other foreign lands’. Coming from murugadoss, via sun pictures, I was surprised. Maybe the stalins and marans, now thanks to two generation of ic marriages to Brahmins, have changed their views re reservations? Who knows!!

The music by harris jeyaraj is toe tappingly good. Very modern and sync with the beat of today. I loved it.

The movie is 168 minutes but only once I looked at the watch after 130 minutes. Because in Toronto, we do not have breaks at intermission of the movie. We just hold the water in our kidneys and suffer through the whole movie.

And finally surya. He is awesomely good in most places – what with his handsome face, 6 pack body and the lithe compostures of his movements. But surya is not a serious actor, and when he delivers some serious politically correct statements re sri lankan tamils or reservation in india, it does not sound convincing. Such statements should be best left out in a movie like this, which is a mass action entertainer, with a drop of historical pride as icing.

Just two days ago, thala ajith was bragging in facebook. His long running mangatha, is still vasool raja #1 in tamil nadu, beating out 7aam arivu (surprise) and velayudham (deservedly so). 7aam is anyday a better movie than either mangatha or vel.

Shruthi is tall, stately but appears to have problems delivering tamil dialogues. Otherwise she is perfect.

The photography is awesome. Never realized that Chennai was so beautiful, including the iit campus. I do not believe that the interiors of the museum shown in the movie, is madras museum . if it be so, then kudos to them for such a great presentation.

Dong le the Chinese assassin is frighteningly lifelike. Whenever he appered, mrs K crouched near me terrified and held my hands. I should in a way thank him I guess.

All in all 7aam arivu is a superb thriller, world standard.

4

 

[kunjuppu]

thenmerku paruv katru

5 movie.

this is a rural tamil nadu story, which city bred yours truly is never aware of. so, it was like opening an article in national geographic, with all its stunning photography and vivid portrayal of human life.

i have heard that during the british time, certain tamil nadu castes used to be termed as 'criminal castes', and their menfolk, right from the time of puberty, would have to report regularly to the police. ie guilty till proved innocent.

this story centres probably around one such group. the land is parched, and folks supplement their income by rearing goats. so, goat rustling is a favourite past time, except here one of the rustlers happens to be a young girl. sure enough, during the rustle, while the menfolk escape, she gets found out. so starts love... wow! i have never yet seen a cuter beginning to falling in love than this one.

saranya ponvannan, another favourite of mine gets to be the mother of good for nothing but lazy son, acted by vijay. vasundhra is the goat hustling girl. there appears to be a level of violence, retributions and blood vengeance, in the underbelly of tamil society, if recent films are to be believed. i dont know if this is really true.

saranya's acting as a single mother, widowed young and single handedly bringing up her son, and the gradual fortune of the family, as seen by the prosperity of the house, is top notch.she won awards for this film, incidentally her 100th.

the supporting castes are adequate and very realistic acting. rural tamil nadu never looked so raw and yet so beautiful.

two songs - heyndi kallachi and kalli kattil are pleasant to hear.

the title of the movie, stands for the south west monsoon, prevalent in the southern tamil nadu districts and the west coast. it could also mean the attaraction of youth of opposite persuasions and the resultant storm...or something like that. i liked the latter explanation better.

i repeat. 5

 

[kunjuppu]

Vaagai Sooda Vaa

5

these type of movies do not get the publicity or even the release it deserves. but these definitely deserves our support for these are gems of tamil movies. sheer delight.

this is an upbeat movie. there is no sorrow par a death, and no unnecessary song and dance.

this is the story of a supposedly 'failed' man bagyaraj's son vimal, who after puc manages to get a teacher's certificate. the father's dream unfulfilled, but passed on to the son, is to secure a government job. in order to get this, vimal takes a NGO job in a remote village, kandeduthaan kaadu, if you can believe the name, in tamil nadu, which subsists by making bricks out of the clay soil

the teacher arrives, to find a 100% illiterate population, not interested in education, or interested in sending their kids to the same. a local pretty lass, iniya who runs a tea shop falls in love with him, but not reciprocated by the idiot teacher. the teacher is not a brave guy, just someone in real life, passing the time, to get the NGO certificate and leave the village for the govt job.

a small challenge to one villager results in finally acquiring one student. then the others come. the children learn to count. thus posing a challenge to the non resident village boss, who takes the bricks wholesale, and undercounts the numbers, and holds the village bonded in debt.

the teacher gets the govt job ultimately, prepares to leave the village. then comes his realization, through circumstances beyond his control, how much he meant to the village.. and to the lass.

he goes back to the village...and what happens there is the story.

very heartwarming.. i had lumps in my throat when it ended.

vimal is superb as the simpleton teacher, unaware of the wiles of iniya, tricked by the village kids, and also chased for ever by an angry ram. superb top notch humour, unbecoming of a tollywood or bollywood movie.

music by ghibran brings out the smell of the earth. the song, 'thaila thaila', shows a unique way of a amourous approach and seduction, so very charming; and the accompanying song, so hummable. so short - little over a minute, but still ringing in my head

what more can i say.

buy a ticket or legit dvd.

rush!

5

 

[kunjuppu]

namma veettu kalyanam

some real life stories even beat the movies.

by chance, i came across the wedding vimal (kalavani, vaagai sooda vaa, thoongaanagaram) and his paramour akshaya.

a very entertaining 30 minutes, only interrupted by the ad for arasan soap, and an irritating compere. please bear with them and enjoy the story..

namma-veetu-kalyanam-vimal akshaya

 

[Nara]

....this story centres probably around one such group. the land is parched, and folks supplement their income by rearing goats. so, goat rustling is a favourite past time,..

K you have redeemed yourself as a movie reviewer in my eyes with this review after the one on 7mArivu. I saw this Thenmerku ... movie and it was surprisingly very good. Simple love story, very realistic, nice touch. I will give it 5 too.

5

these type of movies do not get the publicity or even the release it deserves. but these definitely deserves our support for these are gems of tamil movies. sheer delight.

buy a ticket or legit dvd.

rush!

From where, is there a DVD rental like Netflix for Tamil movies?

Cheers!

 

[kunjuppu]

adaminde makan abu

5

this malayalam heartwarming upbeat movie is india's entry for oscars for foreign films.

it is a story of an elderly moplah couple, the man obsessed with the dream of making the pilgrimage to hajj, with his loving wife.

abu is a small attar seller, ageing and failing business. one last wish for him is to make the pilgrimage, and towards it they skimp save.

the wife ayesha, ably played by zarina wahab of yester years, goes along with his idea. they sell one by one their cherished possessions - the cow with which she earns some extra cash, agree to sell the jackfruit tree for its timber, her jewellery.

still they come short by 50,000 rupees. there are no number of people who are willing to pay this balance, so that abu can make the journey. ayesha tells him that with the money they have, he can go alone.

everpresent in the movie, is the missing only son, away in dubai, and have not visited the parents for ever so many years. their two grandsons, they have never seen. the hurt in the mother and the anger in the father at perceived betrayal, is so poignantly and wordless brought out.

little things - like the application for the passport, the bribery to the police; the thankful tip to the postman, all are so touchingly displayed. there is even a mention of badagara, my home town.

two old people in love. they look at their passport pictures. the husband, looking at his wife's hijab clad photo, remarking that she is full of 'pathraasu' - a word that has been out of my vocabulary for over 40 years and so pleasant to hear.

abu's decision and the fine ending, i will leave you to watch.

the movie was released to rave reviews in kerala at the start of 2011. it has garnered many prizes.

for the oscars, there is a need to raise $1 million or so, just for the publicity, and to create awareness of the movie among the academy members. the producer, salim ahamed, who did not use financiers for the movie, and got funded from himself and friends, is looking for funds among well wishers, i think.

best wishes to salim ahamed to earn another oscar for india - this time not about india, but by an indian. a first.

5