THE KAMAL HAASAN VIDEO BLOG

23/50 - 'Comeback' Kamal

2009-12-22T05:27:00.000-08:00

No fucking apologies to begin with. Like many other self indulgent works of art, this blog series also derailed midway due to various random reasons. However here is another attempt to get things back on track and enthuse the 4 odd remaining readers of the page with some dose of Kamalism...

'Comeback' Kamal - A look-back at what essentially has been a career full of comebacks and counter attacks. But comebacks into what? And counter attacks on whom? It is complex. Our man has always been living double roles, trying to satisfy three very different sets of people.

ONE - The Bespectacled Bastards

TWO - The Middle Men and

THREE - The Uncompromising Anima

The bespectacled bastards are the eagle eyed, high-speaking, logical flaw-spotting, heartless movie critics who compare every movie made everywhere in the world to one of Stanley Kubric's 18 gems. The modern version of these are obviously the High on flair blog authors, preferably with a hot girlfriend just out of a job from school ( I personally prefer the more sensible one's like what you will soon find on www.clapsandboos.com ). These men ridicule the Indian giant generator of awesome movies. Call him eccentric, self centred, unnecessary and what not. The Middle Men are the distributors. They wont movies that can run, and if possible, consecutive such ventures. Otherwise they won't buy them. Period. The Uncompromising Anima is of course Haasan himself. Eternally dissatisfied with his own work. Wanting to create bigger things on screen. Multi million dollar war sagas, ten-tonne extravaganzas, trying to give way to the cravings of an imagination that is way beyond human possibility.

Into each of these three realms, he has made comebacks, time and again. Almost periodical. Periodical - We will start with Hey Ram then. A strong comeback by Haasan making a solid impression on the creator in him who felt withdrawn by the fact that the finance man in Haasan was not enough to complete what still remains the absolute dream - Marudhanayagam. Even other 'what we would call what the fuck was that' creations like Guna, Aalavandhaan were all comebacks into this , the most brilliant of states man's mind can find itself in

The middle men have had their share of Kamal Comebacks too. What with all of them losing hope on this once bankable star after Mumbai Express and him stunning them all with a screamer of a box-office hit in Vettaiadu which was followed up by the big one. Similarly, when folks were down after a Mahanadi and Kurudhipunalish phase, the man sets the entire box office burning with Indian and Avvai... He has done similar things in the eightees too.

The most difficult to satisfy sect of all have been the bastards. The pens and the keyboards. The continuously insensitive bouts of insult. He has made them stretch too. There have been those awesomely perfect strokes from the master, lines right in the middle of the films that sell their soul to those which dont even show it. I am talking about those panchathantirams, those mahanadis, those michaels, devar magans and those what nots...

The show goes on.. Fresh from 6 months of MBA, i am tempted to draw up a table now fitting each kamal film into each of these three comeback categories. I could also draw graphs and make a personality analysis. What are the key learnings? You don't give a fuck right? Let the articles flow.

22/50 Unwinding the Singer in Kamal Haasan

2009-09-24T01:06:00.000-07:00

This is the second contribution to this series of articles from VIKRAM S (vikramax@gmail.com - www.unwindingthereel.tk) After his mega analysis of Pushpak, This time he elaborates on the singer that Kamal Haasan is... Reading this piece of his was divine in itself. Even more so if u play the songs sung by kamal parallelly as u read his detailed account of the technicalities involved in them... This write up by Vikram is awesome piece.. here it is..

Unwinding the secret and exploring the unknown about Kamal HaasanOften, when we utter the word Kamal Haasan, we tend to talk more about his *on screen* performance which primarily deals with acting and his experimental works *on screen*. We also talked plenty on screen writer Kamal Haasan and the director Kamal Haasan as well. Well, let's give some rest to the actor, writer, director Kamal Haasan and let's wake up the other facts about the Legend and also explore the hidden facts about this master mind with respect the songs IN GENERAL.

Now, the funniest thing when we say songs!!! Songs, Songs, Songs!!! What do we infer when we talk about songs? Is it just the music director? Certainly not! There are more and more sub classification!. Thanks to the recent programme in Vijay TV, where they touched, I repeat, they just touched about this field with respect to Kamal Haasan. Let me try my best to unwind more.

Our man started this at the age of 6. Yes, we are in deed talking about the Kalathoor Kannama fame Kamal, who rendered beautifully the song "Ammaavum Neeye, Appaavum Neeye". Of course, we have witnessed several other child artist to render singing for someone in many songs. But Kalathoor Kannama is unique. How is it unique? The screen presense and the camera focus on the subject in this song distinguishes from the rest of the world. You can notice the fact that, the camera deliberately focus on our star. To be in precise, assuming the song stretches for 5 minutes, camera would have focussed on our hero for 4+ minutes. This is not an easy task to do a lip sing at the age of 6. But the end result what achieved is nothing but PERFECTION. Is this all the beginning???

The next point is just for the fact. Kamal Hassan become a playback singer in the movie 'Andharangam', his mentor KB directed movie where he sung a beautiful song called "Naairu Oli Mazhaiyil" which gave him confidence and also recognition to sing more songs in the future line up. And the next movie that invited Kamal to sing happened to become his 100th movie, Raaja Paarvai, where he sung the song "Vizhiyorathu Kanavu". This is when Kamal got this offer more frequently because of the Maestro Ilayaraja, the combo, which always provided massive melodies.

It happened so soon, and that too with a National Award winner, Kamal Haasan song the famous "Kulla Nari" song in the movie "Moondram Pirai". Interesting fact is that, this song proved to be a benchmark song of story recite. It doesn't carry a rhythmic music or any raaga associated with it. It was composed more of a story recite with a nursery rhyme rhythm because of Sri Devi.

Kanne Thottukkavaa Kattikkavaa
Kattikkittu OttikkavaaThottukkittaa
PathikkumaePathikkittaa
PathattumaeAnjugamae Nenju Enna Vittu Vittu Thudikkudhu
Kattazhagi Onna Yenni Kannu Muzhi Pidhungudhu
Kothi Vida Vendumendru Kokku Enna Thudikkudhu
Thappi Vida Vendumendru Kendai Meenu Thavikkudhu
Kulikkira Meenukku Kulir Yenna Adikkudhu
Pasi Thaangumaa Ilamai Ini
Parimaara Vaa Ila Maangani

Who can forget this beautiful prelude piece of fast number that comes before the song 'Vanidhamani Vana Mogini' song from the movie 'Vikram'. How often have we come across such a prelude piece with rhydhamic words ending each line and more importantly beautifully sung by the Legend followed by the ace singer SPB to contibue with the song. Oops! Did I miss the opening fusion number?? Vikram!!!! Vikram!!!! Vikram (Robotic voice)..... yes, the fusion number which apparantly comes as a title song is really sickening because we did not get enough chance to witness this song visually or even in radio! We have seen songs where the voice modulation takes place throughout the song. But this song is exception and the exception is because of the singer. The man, modulates his voice in Pallavi, Charanam1, Charanam 2 and even in the opening precursion.

Now comes THE song, which I bet, every soul who have seen Tamil movies wouldn't have failed to listen. Yes, we are talking about 'Then Paandi Cheemayile'. The song comes 4 times in the movie, the title, death of Saranya, death of Nizhalgal Ravi and the climax. The opening bit was sung by the Maestro, who needs no musical instrument and yes the song comes without any instrument and we happen to listen to just the voice of the Maestro. And then the three occasions, Kamal steals the show as a playback singer. You must concentrate on the verbal notes sung by Maestro and Kamal Haasan. Maestro uses 'Azhudha manasu thaangaadhey' stressing on the exact script 'Zha' phonetic sound, whereas, Kamal will use 'Aludha manasu thaangadhey' with the phonetic sound 'la'. This makes a lot of difference and quite obviously the latter sung by Kamal adds more value and life to the song. Another difference between the two is 'Yaar Adichaaro' and 'Yaar Adithaaro'. I leave to the readers to identify who uses what?

Here comes another benchmark song, which was never every utilized in Tamil Cinema before. And complete marks goes to the man, Kamal Haasan, who is the 100% inventor for this song. We are talking about 'Kanmani Anboda Kadhalan' from the movie Guna. I hope many would have heard the dramaticized version of the conversation between Kamal-Santhanabarathi-Ilayaraja. Assuming it to be true, you will get to know that, the concept of a conversation based number is purely because of Kamal Haasan. Can someone *try* to imagine the song sung by any ace singer other than Kamal himself? If it had happened, how would the song be? Good on Ilayaraja that he didn't let our imagination to become wild!

Another 'Vani thamani' number being used in 'Saandhu Pottu'. In both places, the ace singer SPB joins the club to make it beautiful. The latter one being a conversation with the villian and comes a teaser number with poetic stanzas. This also comes at the end of each Charanam with a sarcasatic smile to end the note.

Oru vaaikozhupedutha aduthavan varatu izhupithaavan thol urippavan da tamizhachi paal kudichavandaAda vishayangal pala arindhavan naan vivarangal pala purinjavan naanSandaikku vandha savaal vittaThadiyathan PudichuthaanKai viralula suthura suthulaAnnaachi unnai naan punnaaku thinna vaippean

Kamal, never ends here in this movie. He joins with another legend S Janaki amma and challenges her with 'Inji Iduppazhagi'. Who can forget the opening style of note and the sarcastic comment for the same. 'Marandhuruveengalonnu nenaichean'. The singer Kamal Haasan, concentrate so much on the language with respect to the character/role in the movie. Devar magan, being a southern caste related role, he stresses on 'alagi' instead of 'azhagi'. Adding to that, he also stretches a few words to ensure the slang being used. Of course, S Janaki is no exception either in this song.

Rukku Rukku RukkuHare Baaba Rukku... Oh my darlinguuuu (coughs)

Yes, for people who doesn't know about the singer behind this song, it's the Ultimate Kamal Haasan. What else this man can try in a field where he has least experience. How can one imagine to sing like an old lady justifying to the role that he enacted in this movie. Thought this is purely a commercial movie, Kamal Haasan still wants to improvise on whatever he does and this is a clear example. Yet another old lady voice was again witnessed in Dasavatharam, where Krishnaveni Patty, the man, sings a small stanza 'Usurodu Irukkan Naan petha pilla'. Well, though both being a aged lady character, there is some significance difference in the voice modulation. The caste, the actual age, the tremble all being considered while singing.

Well is this too much? Well, I really stop because there are still more to explore. 'Aalavandhan' had the gigantic voice of Kamal singing 'Kadavul Paadhi Mirigam Paadhi'. The amount of base put in this song implies the seriousness in the character. Another song from the same movie is 'Siri Siri Siri' which is more a joke recite. The lyrics will have a mixture of english and tamil continuity and it will be beautifully rendered by Kamal. 'So kala kala kalavena siri Kannil neer vara siri...So Siri'.

Master in Malayalam as well. Perhaps the first song which was sung completely in Malayalam in a Tamil movie. The film is shortly called 'MMKR' and the song is 'Sundari Neeyum Sundara Nyaanum' where Kamal again joins with S Janaki who is again a native of Andhra. But the product was 101% perfect to the core. He makes sure that he properly stresses the words in Malayalam with proper phenotics. I, being a native of Kerala, precisely a Palakad Iyer, I can honestly comment on the slang which has come to the core perfection.

Now comes the expert in Madras Slang. We have witnessed our man, speaking in Madras slang in many movies. He steps further by singing in the same style as well. He started with 'Kandasamy Madaaamy Munnusaamy' in PKS. This song also discovered the lyricist Kamal. Yes, Kamal penned the lyrics for this song which takes a dig about Marriage and ties it beautifully with the Lords. Initial comparison between the usual *saamy* to the Lord *Saami* is simply top notch. Well, more importantly, the song comes as a real stunt man singing the song with the Madras Baashai. 'Iyyapan amsama kundhikittu irukkura style paar'. Another Madras slang that our man gave to us is 'Kaasu Mela Kaasu Vandhu' from the movie Kadhalan, where he sings along with a singer from North, Udit Narayanan. Even this song is so special that it will have some realistic glimpses. In the middle of the song, Delhi Ganesh will interrupt the song and Kamal will question "enna mudinju pocha". Also he tries to imitate the stammering in the song which is a short and catchy one. Well the man didn't stop there, he moves another step and did 'Aalwarpettai Aandava' in Vasool Raja MBBS. Another advice based song on love failure. This song proves the fact that a song can be so enjoyable even if nuances that happen in life is said in our local slang. "pannandu vayasu manasil pattamboochi parakkume" is something the lyrcists capitalize it using poetic lyrics.

Another highlight song in his career is 'Raja Kaya Vachaa' from Aboorva Sagodharargal. The prelude conversation with Aachi Manorama is so nice with typical Madras slang. This song draws a sensational comparison with car-women with tremendous analogy. The word *sogusu* in this song will be addressed in different phonetic in all the three places.Not just Tamil, but also in English. Our man has also sung a pop number in the movie Nala Damayanthi for the promo. 'Stranded on the Streets' is the song and once again, he proved language is not a barrier for him at least. He also tried a different style in 'Aalankatti Mazhai' from Thenali is another unique number.

Our man doesn't stop here! He has also rendered his voice for songs which doesn't feature him. He started with 'Muthe Muthama' for Ajith in Ullasam with a peppy number under Karthik Raja music and travels to Yuvan for singing 'Neruppu Vaayinil' in Pudhupettai.

With Virumaandi, the lyricist Kamal shared more space in the lyricist ocean. The song 'Unnai Vida' made him a proper lyricist and not just another run of the mill. He wrote the song and he sung the song so beautifully with some pleasant music from the Genius. In the same movie, he also sung the song 'Kombula Poova Suthi' which is more a victory pleasure number claiming his glory. Again comes the voice modulation when he utters 'Ethana Thazhumbirukku' with a low base voice leaving the background singers to chant 'onnu rendu moonu'.

'Yele Machi Machi, Thala Suthi Suthi' from Anbe Sivam is another *yesapaatu* (competitive) song, where he competes with Madhavan on topic *Bodhai*. He steps as a choreographer in Hey Raam for the song 'Raaman Aanalum' again the man, gives his voice. This time it's a trio number.

Having said all these, having written for pages, it doesn't make a complete meal, if I leave 'Yaar Yaar Sivam' from Anbe Sivam. This song was so popular for the *M-A-G-N-I-F-I-C-A-N-T* voice of the Legend. The song was sung with a vibration that leaves goose bumps when you listen to this number. No wonder it leaves a deep impact on the listener and it gets registered in the heart of the listener purely because of the magical voice.

- virkam

21/50 - Zoe: Kamal Haasan. Lum: Kamal Haasan?

2009-09-14T09:29:00.000-07:00

On areally hot afternoon in Chennai, Zoe(the one with a lot of hair) and Lum manage to dash into the chocolate house at the Velacheri 100 ft. road. Over 2 cups of 'death by chocolate' Zoe comes up with ..

Kamal Haasan...

Lum: Kamal Haasan? What bout im?

Zoe: Completing 50 years in filmworld

Lum: 12 of which were dormant.. Dont think he would make a fuss out of it. Dont know why people like Vijay Tv and Krish King Nishanth are going haywire over it.. Its only numerically 50 years not filmy years wise..

z: Still. The Genius has spanned 50 years damnit,, calls for a tribute

l: Donot call im a genius, its an insult to the word. Hes just different. That's about it.

z: The man who wrote Mahanadi and Heyram is 'just different'? The Appu of Aboorva Sahodrargal and the Indian Thaatha is just 'different'

l: Have u seen requiem for a dream? Beat that to tragedy? And wasn't Heyram meant to be this confused piece of film making... No comments about his get up changes.. Its not a huge achievement, He would agree i guess

z: Drug relaplse vs Chit Fund Debacle . Both give the same effect. Now whos the better writer? And for your kind information Heyram is film about confusion and not a confused film as some people who like u hu havent even seen the movie make it out to be... This man with 50 odd amazing songs to his credit, Some great pieces of classical dancing, Tremendous performances and brilliantly written/directed works is just different,, Not a genius right?

l: aah bollocks. Whom are u saying is a genius? This multi tasker who is a jack of all trades but a master of none?

z: master of what none? Tell me one actor who at the age of 20 comes up with a stellar performance in a romantic comedy as complex as Manmadha Leelai. In the next few years , this fellow goes on to don the psycho , portray the literally lame village idiot, the blind musician and the most professional a carnatic dancer can get in tragedies like no other. Oh and by the way seen moondram pirai right? MOODITTU IRU.

l: Does not pass muster

z: wait, am not even done with a third of his career yet. Now the north.. two classic romance films and 2 of the best romance performances of the decade.. back to Madras.. The silent movie and a role which you, a fan, would agree, is among the most comprehensive performances of all time. and then Nayagan - Brando must be proud. And no, there is a storm now... one after another.. masterpieces filed on top of each... The aboorva sahodrargal love failure scene followed by entire 150 minutes of brilliance in 4 mmkr roles... comedy divine... Guna now.. pentathol smell - Girish Karnad was a witness to magic.. Oh and immediately Devar Magan.. who fucking gave the national award to Bharatam? Mahanadi - The daughter is back from prostitution and blabbers in sleep. U need to look at the man at that time. U really need to. Sathi Leelavathi and "waiter, menu card please"..The Kurudhi Punal Climax cry, The master act in Indian.. Just gotta look at his face ( both the roles) in the beginning of the Pachai Kiligal song.. The man was just at absolute peak... Avvai Shanmukhi, and a ring of other comedy classics (esp Pammal K and the Madras Bashai). Sandwitched inbetween them was this lesson in the university of iowa called Heyram ... Nandu then struck - the lunatic redefined followed by 2 more rabbits in the hat. Called Nalla sivam and Virumandi thevar....

Lum Takes a breath

But why is Lum taking a breath?

20/50 - Bring It On !

2009-09-01T21:13:00.000-07:00

You know I am a maniac.

A lunatic fanatic.

Blind Kamaltheist. There are others too.

In the queue.

I beat them all and lets see how.

This post attempts to justify why :-

1) Kamal the actor has no parallel in the Tamil Cinema Industry

2) Kamal the actor has no fucking parallel in India. There are people who can get close, but no one close enough.

3) Kamal the actor can stand up to the top three in the world ( See, I am not Santosh/G/Karan) (Neither am I Udhav), (I am Ajay Srinath?) (If u don't know these people then u need not)

Let us THE start.

Brinjal 1 - The Fun Part

Hehe. Yeah. This is the fun part. Comparing Kamal with other actors in the tamil film industry is the laziest ever walk you can have in a park.

To start with, Kamal's acting talents here are being compared with those of other 'actors'. Not men who run behind and ultimately end becoming 'Images'. Kamal's comparison could probably come from the dynamic actor in late Mr. Sivaji Ganesan who portrayed an unbelievably large number of roles and characters, each different from the other, but unfortunately fell prey to the the unnecessary percentage of theatrics in his on screen acting. Critics called it over acting, which it was not, but the effect his loud and heavily obvious lip syncs produced was ultimately that.

If not Sivaji Ganesan, Then another thespian who could challenge the might would be M.R.Radha -electric, vivascious and with unsurpassable on screen histrionics. Why and where does Radha lose out? He loses out because not many people say Michael Bevan was a better batsman than Sachin Tendulkar. He actually wasn't. The finisher had depth syle class flair and all that. He did not play long enduring test matches but. Test matches would have made him experiment, spread his wings, try new situations, new stages to act, new roles to play. Bevan did not, neither did Radha.

Them apart, there were and are specialists and multitaskers like-Nagesh,Prakash Raj, Goundamani, Raghuvaran, Delhi Ganesan. Each of them, principals in colleges owned by Haasan.

Brinjal 2 - India has got TALENT!

Believe me, India truly has got talent. In Mohanlal, Nasseruddin Shah, Nana Patekar, Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor and some unknown names, I see bits and pieces of Kamal Haasan. In Mohanlal i see raw natural acting talent that can affect any audience that watches it in motion. His roles get into your mind as the slow malayalam movie progresses into a gripping climax where he more often than not brings brilliant feelings right into that otherwise not so impressive face of his. This man gives neck to neck competition in every field where Kamal is King. However, if one keenly observes, the reason why Kamal comes up with much more effective performances than Laletta is because Kamal uses his body to much greater use in depicting many an emotion. If you observe the mannerisms you would know, Kamal has a standard set of body movements attached with various scenarios. They are not on your face but end up magnifying his performance to the desired effect. Lal lacks this art. Almost Completely.

Nasseruddin Shah and Nana Patekar are both Intensity personified but will a michael madana kamarajan ever come from them has a NO written all over their answer sheet. At the same time, intense performances and Kamal are brothers in arms. Devar Magan, Guna, Mahanadi and HeyRam are among the many testimonies to this fact..

Brinjal 3 - Coming Soon..

This material has been outsourced. In the coming few weeks, this blog shall witness arguments and counter arguments about where in the international acting scene, Kamal Haasan stands. As of now, the blog agrees with what this pic on top says. He stands tall.. there.

19/50 - The Pushpak Postmortem - A MEGA DETAILED ANALYSIS

2009-08-29T10:37:00.000-07:00

This article is written by one of the most sincere and at the same time cool lovers of good honest cinema. A man who doesn't miss one single Tamil movie and infact watches all of them on big screen. Tamil apart, He has seen almost every film ever made on earth and owns one of the biggest movie collections on earth

Vikram S, moderator and the real soul of the now famous Tamil Cinema Community can be found at www.unwindingthereel.tk ... The man who lives for cinema.

What follows is his breathtaking GIGA detailed post mortem of a breathtaking movie - PUSHPAK

Note : This article is a complete post morterm analysis of the entire movie segmented into chapters. The author has explained the general terms as well as some nuances attached to it. The author recommends to watch this movie and then read the article.

Pushpak, directed by one of the underrated directed called Singeetham Sreenivasa Rao (SSR) is what I am going to do a post mortem. It was also dubbed, oops, sorry released in Tamil as Pesum Padam, which was very contrary to the movie. I in fact loved the tamil title more than than the hindi. It's quite funnier to use the language for a movie which actually needs no language to watch. Let's start the post morterm.

First and foremost, Pushpak is not *yet another movie* kind that it was taken just for the sake of entering into the history. It deals a lot. Each and every scene was conveyed with a brilliant body language from each and every cast in the movie. It's not a movie where the cast were purposely silent, it leaves the audience an impression that the cast in the movie perhaps didn't find a necessasity to speak. The scenes where shot brilliantly to follow the same formula.

Introduction - Overview of Anand Bavan

Playing the title card with a background score of a movie running in a talkies is the place where Kamal lives adjacant to it. It was a night shot and the title card ends with a bizarre string BGM in the movie and moves to the next morning. This scene depicts the serial flat system where Kamal lives. It was portrayed in the form a servant maid. She starts to sweep along the corridor and surpasses the rooms (houses) continuing to sweep. One should listen to the background music here. As and when she sweeps and surpasses the rooms, the music from the radio changes according to the caste of the people and the rooms she passes by. It starts with some unknown Indian language music and then moves to Tamil devotional song and then to news. The servant maid then passes an old man smoking and watching her assets since she was dressed in a Odissi style revealing her assets. Just to see more glimpses of her, the old man put the ash from his cigarrate and asks her to clean the place to watch her assets in a better angle. Here also if you notice, the old man puts a sodakku and ask her to clean, which can clearly convey her a message. Once she clean, the old man bends to catch her cleavage, but alas, she notices it and drops the dirt and move on. The siren signals at the background when she climbs up the ladder to sweep another room where Kamal stays indicating that the working hour has started and still the hero is sleeping. Obvious reasons indicating that he is an unemployed youth. She knocks the door and peeps into the key hole to see his position of sleep and Kamal opens the door from sleep and she gets in and immediately started to sweep leaving a wink in Kamal face!!! As she sweeps, she takes the newspaper and a photograph of Kamal with degree and keeps it on top of the newspaper and throw the sandals on top of it. Once again Kamal winks. Another symbolism to indicate that his education is of no value now a days. As she moves on to clean the other things on the table, Kamal tries to squeeze the toothpaste so hardly and manage to get the paste. Poverty at its peak. As he squeezes the toothpaste, the servant maid sees a debanoir magazie and opens the page to see the picture to give an impression on the servant maid.

First In First Out - Toilet

The next scene is one of the best scene in the movie. Kamal wanted to go to the toilet and it's a common toilet used by all the people living in the apartment. There will be three toilets and three people standing in the queue. As and when people comes out, Kamal tries to get into the toilet but the other person standing next to him leaves him behind and enters. The same thing keep happening for multiple occasion. At last, it will end with him and a person standing outside. Kamal calculates based on FIFO system and covers the toilet door. But FIFO system fails and the other person enters the different toilet. Kamal again disappoints and when there was no competition to rush inside the toilet, he will be left with two choices (doors). Kamal peeps into each of them and sees which is better (clean) and enters. If you notice Kamal while he was standing outside, you can notice the urgency in his face expression and reaction and especially the way he stands. Again in this scene, there is no necessasity for verbal communication since it's not place where one would wish to argue.

Crow's idea

The very next scene where he discovers that his shirt stinks because of the sweat and the way he tries to invent a new deodrant using the soap foam tells us the poverty. He don't have a spare shirt. Of course he has one, but that will be even worser than this. And next comes the tea boy who brings the tea in a can and gives tea. People living in the apartment pays him the money and he gives the tea. Kamal initially keeps a rupee and later decides to keep 50p and the boy reacts to it and gives him half a glass with proper measurement. His neighbour in the next floor shows him a full glass of tea and kamal waves him back with a reaction but sees a crow cawing. Brilliant piece of narration.

Challenge the beggar

Kamal on his way for the job hunt stands on a bridge and sees a begger and teases him by spinning the 50p that he has and smiling at the beggar in a sarcastic way. What Kamal got in response to that is something strange, the beggar gives another sarcastic smile and takes money from all the places of his body and shows him a lot of money, which makes Kamal to feel bad for he did.

Handloom Episode

It's in this scene in an handloom shop, where Kamal meets Amala. The initial conversation of the movie actually begins here where Amala tries to select a earing for her and kamal, who is a complete stranger advises her as a well wisher in selecting the earing with the help of signals indicating dislikes and likes. But Amala will not respond for his likes and walk way. In the car park when Kamal tries to escape from the shop keeper, he sees Amala wearing the earing which he liked. They both share a sarcastic smile and kamal whistles and pass by.

No Vacancy

This scene where Kamal stands in the queue and when someone spits the pan, Kamal tries to occupy that place and eventually will be pushed to the end of the queue and gets frustrated and leans on a car. Again, 'da da da da da', that's the music used whenever Kamal meets Amala, especially when Amala is in the car. It also makes one to assume it as the car horn. Kamal again appreciate her earing which he indirectly selected. Amala in return, appreciates the car in which Kamal was leaning assuming that it's his car. Here it gives an impression on Kamal from Amala's POV. Even here, director has again justified that they can communicate without verbal exchange. This episode also introduces the rich man who stays in the Hotel Pushpak. This scene also gives us on how Pushpak came!

The Catch!

Now comes the catch of the story. Kamal finds the rich man lying in the street and plans an idea and bring him to his house and tie him and he goes to the hotel in place of him. These scenes will be just mind blowing to see. You must notice Kamal being very cautious when he brings him to his house. It's not an easy task to lift the fat guy to the terrace where he stays. You should also notice the pre cautionary method Kamal uses in the room. The director also maintains the reality with the movie sound being played in the talkies which will scare Kamal at the first instant. Having made the necessary arrangement, Kamal will enter the Hotel Pushpak with some discomfortness which is quite evident by the way he walks into the Hotel and when he meets the security, you can notice that he is kinda scared. Also the elevator scene where Kamal initially uses the staircase. Though these are just small instances, it's still great. The moment he enters the room, he makes sure that he locks the door and sees the food kept at the table and relishes with joy because he wouldn't have seen such a meal. The mirror scene is one awesome directorial touch. He is alone, he is cheating, he is precautious and all of a sudden he sees his face in the mirror. Shocked to death. Brilliant!!! And once again he sees the mirror in the bedroom of the hotel. This time, he faces it. And another casual common man thought between a suitcase and an ordinary cover. Kamal neglects the cover and open the suitcase and later when he finds liqour in the suitcase, he whinks and pulls the cover back and finds a wholesome amount.

Another mono act

Another brilliant piece of communication between Kamal and Amala being exchanged from their balcony. Since they cannot shout and speak, they mono act and communicate and in order to catch their action, they use binocular and a camera. The way Kamal uses actions to convey will be brilliant and easily understandable.

The Changeover

Now Kamal changes completely with the outfit and goes back to his room. On his way to his room, the other people living in the Bavan will look at him with a surprise because of his costume. It doesn't leave the servant maid as well. Kamal never wanted to kidnap the rich man and hence he treats him with all the basic things. The way he cuts the Easy Chair for him to pee is something real funny. Funniest thing is that after he cuts, he will check the size by keeping it on his bum. Once he is done, Kamal will take a cloth to clean his ass. The BGM says all in that scene. Initially he shows the cloth to him and later he himself will accept to clean.

Shitty Parcel

This is probably the USP of the movie, which would make the audiece to ROFL. The preparation to this scene is the main highlight of the movie. One would never know why Kamal comes to Anand Bhavan with a parcel, gift wrapped to his room. He utilizes it to wrap the shit and dump it. Once he cleans the rich man, he walks out of the room with the gift wrapped parcel in his hand. You must observe how he carries the gift parcel. He will maintain a distance and you can very well understand the face reaction of Kamal while carrying the gift parcel. The ultimate USP of the movie is here when Kamal tries to dump the parcel near a bus stop. The parcel will be packed in a grand way that it's not a dumping material and anyone for the matter of fact, who sees the parcel unattended, will obviously try to open it. Yes, we have a man who watches Kamal trying to dump the parcel and Kamal knows he cannot dump it treating it as a shit because of the attraction material. And the funniest thing is that, whenever he tries to dump the box, the man watching Kamal catches him and Kamal reaction to it will make the audience to burst of laughter. This instance doesn't end in just one scene but it has got the aftermath as well. A few other scenes when Kamal tries to dump the shit, the next day, he again sees the witness who will be eating something and started to puke after seeing Kamal with the parcel again. NOW!! It still doesn't end here, there will be another instance where Kamal sees him coming out from an Hospital because of the consequence of that incident.

Once Again the Beggar

Kamal once again meets the same beggar who teased him initially. Without any wait, kamal takes a bundle of currency and waves it infront of the beggar. But the beggar wasn't surprised but rather gave a sarcastic smile.

Peaceful Sleep

Though he has money, luxury, etc., still he won't be able to find some good sleep. Hence, decides to record the music of the talkies sound and play it in the room. As soon as the tape recorder stops, Kamal wakes up!!!

Enemity

Remember the scene where an introduction was given to the Richman, who kisses his wife and then makes a call and a scene at the other end shows that she will have enjoying with his lovable friend. Now this scene, shows some serious plans of a guy preparing himself for a murder. The idea being adopted is interesting. Killing with a ice knife, leaving no marks of finger prints. Immediately the next scene indicates the same. The kalla kadhalan Prathap Pothean orders the henchman to kill the rich man. Giving him just the room number!!! Isn't it a great way to move the screenplay??

Magic Show

One can easily predict the scene with the help of the BGM. Whenever the magician, Amala's father comes, he holds a separate BGM track for him. The henchmen tries to kill Kamal here. Often he misses the chances. You can notice the people clapping & laughing is coincided with the series of the attempts. And apparantly, Kamal himself will take the ice knife and give it to him. This is probably the scene where they missed the flow of the movie and there would be a verbal conversation between them.

Slap

Slap and clap, Kamal and Amala, mistaken identity, unable to convey the message due to circumstances. Brilliant narration. The series of scenes and the background for each of the incident matches and conveys a lot to the viewers. Disappointed by the show, Kamal leaves the place. Followed by the scene is where the continuity in the form of curtain goes in hand between Kamal and Amala. That's a nice piece of affection.

Pushpak Margaya

The man, who sits in the wheel chair and roams around the hotel, expires. Even in his ceremony, the director would have utilized humour. With just a smile, Amala conveys to Kamal what happened the other day was a mistake. They keep coming around the dead again and again. You can see some funny reactions from different people.

Telephone Conversation

Here Kamal tries to speak to Amala over the phone but again circumstances will not favour because of her dad and mom interfering. Kamal's reaction and the voice from the other line will be portrayed well.

Waiter

Kamal dresses like a waiter and comes to Amala's room in order to give the chain. The verbal conversation is reduced using distubances material. Here, Amala's mom will be coughing throughout the scene in order to surpress the verbal conversation.

Hangout

Amala signals kamal that they can meet since her parents have gone out. Here probably the first time you will hear dialogues. But that's from the movie in a theatre where watch. Probably one of the interesting scene where Kamal wanted to do some mischievious thing. He shows her what others normally do in theatre and he himself tries to do it. Even in their hangout, they tend to have some verbal communication and wantedly surpressed. But the entire hangout is actually in the form of a sync out song and since, you cannot have the song in this movie, it was done in this way. This is the scene where he Kamal realizes love and luxury with a flower and currency note.

Chasing the henchmen

Now Kamal knows the person who was trying to kill him and in an incident, he follows the henchmen who travels to a different state(shown by the train) and meets Prathap Pothan. The henchmen explains everything what happened and his failure attempt. The entire scene is shown in Kamal's POV who is seeing these incidents outside the house and he can't hear anything. The entire episode reveals a lot to us.

End of the Beggar

While returning back to the hotel, he sees the beggar who is dead and a brilliant incident where people scavanging for money leaving the dead body elsewhere. Kamal realizes and goes back to the hotel and finds his clothes which you pushed it underneath the cot and comes back as the old Kamal. Pictures in the room on how the owner of the hotel has developed this hotel gives more meaning to Kamal's life. He still has one more duty, his love, he need to tell his love is genuine to Amala. He does that in the form of a letter. And a mark of respect, he brings the rich man back to his place where he was lying down. Rich man returns back to his room and gets angry but then sees the letter and realizes about Kamal.

End of the show

Everything ends. Magician magic show, the rich man departs, his wive's arrival, Kamal's rich life. All of them have some connection to one another. Kamal sees Amala and the way they communicate reminds what they have done before. She writes her location in a letter but poor kamal misses it too. At the end of the day, he was left with the rose. And Kamal is back standing in the Q of employment exchange but with a flower in his hand.

18/50 - On the genius that is Anbe Sivam

2009-08-22T13:53:00.001-07:00

On a Saturday night, when the rest of the world was out partying, I also partied. Head phones on, glued to a semi functional lap top which fortunately does not have problems playing good movies with great clarity, I was watching what inarguably is the most intelligent piece of art to have graced Tamil cinema halls. The fact that the cinema halls did not grace it back is a non-issue because its been a long time since I stopped caring about what a film did at box office and what it did not ( Do not remind me of 16/50). I was watching almost unending wit at work. I was watching one of the most complete designs of the master. I was watching the genius that is Anbe Sivam.

I have sort of come up with a new "heart-felt" theory on the movie. Its called "THE ANBE SIVAM PAINTING THEORY" - Here is how it goes:-

In many ways, Anbe Sivam pretty much is all about the ‘so called Sivam’ painting that Nalla draws on the walls of Kandasamy padayachiyar’s office.

1) The fact the painting was designed to be a portrait of Lord Sivam (Theism-on a larger basis) and goes on to depict pretty much the opposite or rather an alternative to the conceptual God is exactly what the movie, its story and its narration does to the audience. It is the underlying theme of the movie- the platform on which every conversation in the movie is based.

2)Next up in the painting is the more than obvious reference to communism and Karl Marx – This again is an issue (perhaps a ‘feeling’ in Mr.Sivam’s words) that is dealt with in the movie all the time in form of arguments and counter arguments between Ars and Sivam.

3) It is while the painting work progressed, that the love between Bala and Nalla evolved – so the painting in essence forms the chunk of the Sivam flash back – the most goose bumpy segment of the entire movie.

4) And above all, Lord Sivam in the painting has a face that is uncannily similar to our Lord here, the man who has amazed us for fifty years now, the genius whose works like this have become a part of our daily life, the man who stands for excellence in everything he does, the hero of this story of ours – Kamal Haasan alias Nalla alias Mr.Sivam alias Nallasivam alias NA. Sivam alias Kadavul.

It is almost as if Kamal first drew that Sivam on the wall and then made a movie around it. Or instead as if Kamal simply decided to paint it again, in 70 mm now with more color, with the images now moving, with more explanations now and even more confusions. With Madhavan and Madan and Vidyasagar (what each of them has done to the movie in terms of acting, dialogues and music respectively is genuinely brilliant work). With ‘magnificently real’ sets and a very pleasing camera, Kamal Repainted the Sivam into one master piece retaining the soul, amplifying the effect 1000x. Kamal first paints it yellow with humor. He then paints it red with communism. He goes on to make it black with heart wrenching tragedy and finally applies white to bring out the inherent truth and the ultimate vision around which the entire theme is built. Of oneness, of the integral living being and of love. Relentless unmotivated unending impartial love.

The true genius of Anbe Sivam lies in the fact that the film is about one simple truth and yet, apart from unfailingly making you realize that simple truth, it travels across various regions and domains not just geographically but very much in the minds as well. It starts with the flight called misplaced ego, settles down to a bus called accident, trivializes with a train called communism. Through relationships, fate and comradeship, it travels until it ultimately gets into a taxi called realization. A taxi that would probably accept credit cards.

17/50 - R-K-F-I Ltd.

2009-08-04T13:04:00.000-07:00

"They want more production and they want it cheaper. But no matter what happens, the creative idea will be perpetuated by somebody who comes up with a vision. I don't care if there are three CEOs - it takes one guy with an idea."
Joe Grant

When Raj Kamal Films International (R.K.F.I) carried out the 4 day conference/workshop on screen writing, a few months back in Chennai, one more brick was placed on Tamil Cinema's most ambitious dream castle. The indie-indie * production house started way back in 1981 ( yes, the same old story of the actor wanting to give the creator inside him more financial freedom and deciding to pen and produce his film in a go) has inarguably made atleast half of the ten best films ever made in tamil cinema. The production house, which is pretty much a one man - one brain - masterpiece making machine has made stunning attempts at different Indian cinema and at the same time managed to 'buck the trend' ** almost all the time ( Except in the case of its most different film !) This article written on the 49th anniversary and the official start of Kamal Haasan's journey into filmdom is a tribute to the all time great production houses of chennai - The firm which has always put everything it has got from art, back into much better art! Raj Kamal Films International

For a difference, we'll use one liners! ( and also move in reverse chronological order)

Unnai Pol Oruvan - Just can't wait to see how better it is than a wednesday. Better it will be no doubt! :)

Mumbai Express - I laughed my heart out ! I know U did not! and I am so sorry for u :P

Virumaandi - Efficient film production never showed so much on the final product! Atleast not in tamil cinema

Nala Damayanti - "India must watch Greencard. But not the dubbed version. We can make them understand and like and love and laugh"

Hey Ram - The case of the child which had a beautiful mother and a father who spent every penny of his income on the kid and both of them were the same person.

Chachi 420 - I am excellent. I am a wizard. I am a genius. I also make profit.

Kuruthipunal - Take It, Make It, Make it way better.

Sathi Leelavathi - In 30 days, I produce 3 screening hours that will make U laugh and smile for atleast 30 long years

Magalir Mattum - The nala damayanti funda... Put a nine to five here instead of greencard.

Thevar Magan - Its my fucking idea, Its my fucking money. Fuck. Its the greatest movie we ever made.

Michael Madana Kamarajan - Among the greatest joys in the world is to hear this shaky old unknown stranger man and this chirpy young unknown stranger kid come to you and say " that thing u made for me keeps me happy and laughing all the time"

Aboorva Sahodrargal - Never ever forget. We can make as much money as we want. This was live proof. It is about where we put this money back into that matters

Kadamai Kanniyam Kattupadu - Natpu, Nermai, Muyarchi.

Vikram - Haasan. Kamal Haasan.

Raja Parvai -This is where we start. And oh what a bang! Like an ISO standard for creativity, the start -germ rests on top of the crown shining all the time. Butterflies are free after all.

16/50 : When No One got more moolah in!

2009-07-12T05:13:00.000-07:00

It was a long time with you
It was a long time with me
It would be a long time for anyone
But looks like its meant to be

I can imagine Kamal singing these lines of permanent goodbye to his majestic fan base of the eighties after scripting Guna in 1990 and making mahanadi in the mind. The decision he took was probably the most crucial turn Tamil Cinema was treated to, because entwined with his later career is the story of the greatest tamil films ever made. How much guts, how much passion, and how much of a heart would it have taken for the reigning king of box office to just leave the commerce behind and go mad behind art. Breath taking art. This article, however is nothing about the art. It is about the crisp sound of paper and how much of it kamal generated at a time when there was no one better at it. It is about the golden days when the golden man danced his way to the riches of the world. Its about a movie called sakala-kala-vallavan and many other money spinners.

There were both major minor hits from 1975 to the early eighties. But what literally placed the man on throne was a self descriptive title - the movie that is sagalakalavallavan - a typical Indian masala fare depicting high energy levels of the male lead. The kind of impact this film had is not very putdownable in words. The biggest production house in tamilnadu , avm, found in sagalakalavallavan, the greatest hit of its film journey. Now that is not as simple as it looks. The movie made more money than any avm film had ever made. And by the time the film got done with its platinum celebrations, Haasan was a complete rage. A name fixed permanently in the hearts of every Tamilian, urban and rural.

Not that this was the first big bang. Ek Duje Ke Liye torched the screens. 16 vayadhinile and sivappu rojakkal made the ticket counters race to eternity. Guru ran to a 100 packed houses. Even the art house attempt at Rajapaarvai went on to touch the hundred day mark.But SKV was gigantic. All encompassing. It just rained gold. From then onwards every kamal movie was recieved with warmth from the distributors. Be it the trashy Savaal and arbit Tick Tick Tick or the brilliant salangai oli. The USP those times was that the energy in performance. It later transformed to the the 'difference' that one now regularly associates with all Kamal movies.
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After other similar hits of varying qualities viz. Kakki Sattai, Nayagan, Sathya etc. came the second BIG BANG. It was a story of a different set of twins. A tale of revenge pulped up with complete wizardry from the actor. They called it aboorva sahodrargal. One of the biggest ever hits in Kamal Haasan's acting career ( keeping inflation in mind), Aboorva Sahodrargal propelled the star into permanent super stardom. So much so that even after years of self indulgent un saleable products, the actor's new films still command a Strong market price.
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With this Aboorva Sahodrargal flow came and went Vetri Vizha, Indran Chandran, MMKR raking in healthy money. And ever since then, kamal has had a single point strategy to control his ever evading commerce market. The concept is to make as much self indulgent cinema as possible separated by 100% laugh riots that come with a minimum hit guarantee . For who will not wanna laugh to three hours of complete fun?.That is the story of singaravelan, Kadala Kadala, PKS, panchathantiram and vasool raja mbbs.
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There was one particular period of two years when he had the chance in his hands to grab the total market and eliminate all possible rivalries. It was 1998. Indian had been the hit of the decade and Avvai Shanmukhi was still running to packed houses, a year after release.. when Marudanayagam happened. Did not happen, rather. Had the film been made and released, what would have ensued is probably the complete change in the way people at tamilnadu made movies a hit. How would a person react to Padayappa after watching Marudhanayagam is a tempting thought. But alas Pokhran had other ideas.
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Nevertheless its been a very interesting ride. Much more interesting than just hits and nothing else. There is creativity, creative success, creative monetary success and a bunch of failures.As one of his songs say 'vazhvinil nooru thadai irundhaal dhaan vaazhkai rusi aaghum, Medugal irukkum nadigalil dhaane minsaram undaaghum ' Among these ultra creative attempts, some click big, some get the investment back and some sink. Devar Magan did the audience proud. Proof that they had the brains to make the choice. Virumaandi broke even and assured people that better times will come. But Anbe Sivam, Hey Ram and such attempts were victims of multiple intended and unintended conspiracies. The legacy however stayed on and the MAN is truly back in form rattling off blockbuster after blockbuster with Vettaiadu Vilayadu and Dasavatharam. His box office future, however is directly proportional to the number of multiplex they build in the cities. And on how anti piracy the DVD market gets.

15/50 : Lion's Lady

2009-07-01T21:08:00.000-07:00

Being a fan is an art. As a fan, one develops unique tastes and has odd films of his star in his favourites list. Things like these are what makes one a better or a different fan than the others. I have my own list of such things too. I am not a great fan of Nayagan. I liked Virumaandi more than Heyram. And i am an Aalavandaan maniac. These traits are not very uncommon among 'Kamalians'. But what would probably totally set me apart is the fact that I don't believe Sridevi is the best lady Kamal ever romanced on screen. Tamil cinema as a whole rates the Kamal - Sridevi pair as probably the all time best couple. Kamal himself agreed in an interview that Sridevi was the best choice among all the lady loves of his. Kamal fans take this even further and end up voting as high as 98 -2 for sridevi vs the rest in "kamal's best pair" polls. I beg to differ. I have to differ. Kamal Sridevi may have all the chemistry and all the love. The soul lies in another pair.

Kamal and Gauthami of Aboorva sahodrargal , Devar Magan, Nammavar and Kurudhi punal represent lovers who don't need dialogues from the film to declare that they are in love. There is a natural feeling of belonging on display. There is plenty of passion (given we are constrained by the Indian censor board) and there are many moments of subtlety. Aboorva Sahodrargal is the standard indian fantasy puppy love which starts with modhal and ends in kadhal. Gautami is at her sexy best and one doesn't need to talk about raja. Raja kaiya vecha adhu wronga ponadhilla. :) . And so the hunk and the chick set the screen on fire.

Devar Magan was a lot more emotional. Committed to marriage, life breaks down midway when shakti is forced to marry the local village girl for the good of the entire village. Unknown of the fact, his lover, gautami returns to his place with grand plans for marriage and love only to find the photo of kamal's wedding hanging on the wall. And there starts the scene which is till date one of gauthami's best performances ever. Broken and totally confused, she shouts cries and throws everything apart. This small story of broken dreams occupies such a major context when the entire life of shakti is taken into consideration with the total plot in picture. Touching, is the word.

Nammavar is love between two matured people. The lady lecturer is smitten by a revolutionary assistant professor who was the dude of his college way back in his student days. Notable is the scene where they get physically close and she confesses to him that she hasn't done it yet. She asks him if he has had the experience, and he points 2 fingers at her. "Both at the same time :o" she asks in shock. "No No, different times. In college" He says. Still very much on her. Unforgettable moments these...

Kurudhipunal is about being soul mates through the toughest of battles. Guthami plays the perfect wife of the cop who understands every pressure of his and adjusts to life accordingly. Then comes the scene where kamal cries out to her saying he is losing the war and its so damn emotional. You have to believe that these people really know each other that much and find infinite comfort in their company. Then ofcourse comes the high voltage subhalekha sudhakar - gauthami blackmail rape scene. There is no kamal in it, but you still feel the bond. The fact that she misses him so much at that particular moment and gains courage from the kind of person he is to ultimately shoot sudhakar on his balls.

And thats how goes one of the less acclaimed but amazingly portrayed romance relationships of tamil cinema. Kamal Gauthami movies will remain immortal, never erased from the list of great cinema. None of them is actually romance in genre but their part stands out. And that probably is the true test of chemistry which they clear with aplomb!

14/50 : ANTITHESIS OF THE HIGHEST ORDER

2009-06-27T22:13:00.000-07:00

Anyone who thinks of including the Kamal Nasser antipathy in the list of standard Cat and mouse tales and 'Hero gets the better of Villain all the time' stories , must be completely out of his mind. Till date, I have not witnessed a single saga of on screen animosity which is as explosive, as intense and as intelligently and diligently plotted out as that of Shakti and Maayan, Adi and Badri, Nalla Sivam and Kandasamy Padayachi. Were these plots planned with Kamal and Nasser in mind, or was it the very presence of Kamal and Nasser that made these plots what they are now ? (Legendary). We do not know. But what we do know is that every time they have been protagonist and antagonist, they have ended up stunning us with breath taking presentations of roles, characters and lives, becoming the most recognisable faces from dramatic tales of bitter enmity and grudge. This article is a look back at some of the blockbuster performances that this great duo has given us. Through this article, we also look at how each of them has approached the particular roles along with discussions on the nuances.

Maayan is complicated. The quintessential representation of the anti Christ on earth. A cerebral genius who has a permanently corrupt soul. He is dark, handsome and very powerful. The constantly scheming mind is low on dialogues, but when he has to make a point, he comes out like a burst of poisonous air. To pull of something as heavy as that on screen needs more than just possessing a twisted nose which Nasser is 'blessed' with. The man who finds himself standing against the brutal force of Maayan is Shakti. Forced into a bloodbath before even knowing how things work - which essentially is re-represented by the climax sequence, Shakti needs to be silent, strong and most importantly, good. Adding gravity to the battle is the fact that pride is the only issue being fought for. Not women. Not money. Pride - that drives mankind to madness. Except for the climax and a couple of other sequences, Kamal's acting is mostly spontaneous and he works through the eyes. Expressions of great desperation, regret, anger and the such. Nasser, on the other hand can be seen working hard on maintaining that constant look of treachery and working more with the body. The very famous "Aiyya,Aiyyow, Yow" scene is trademark Nasser coming out all guns blazing all of a sudden. Every dialogue of theirs including the talk in the hotel room where each vows to keep the name of their land builds up perfectly to the grand one on one climax fight. Maayan, driven out of base is mad and wants only blood. Shakti is fighting for peace. The rivalry ends, with one man dead and the other in tears of madness. It can't get better than this.

Or so we thought. Three years later came a tale that stunned Tamil Cinema. The police captures the driver of a car belonging to a highly dreaded terrorist organisation. The cop behind the operations (kamal) later realises that the person he has caught is actually the TOP GUY of the terrorist group (Nasser). The war begins. First played in the mind, then in the family and finally with the lives. Every move has a counter and a harsh one at that. Ultimately the terrorist proves he is mentally stronger, mainly because there is no family that depends on him. The cop makes one final successful dash to save the operation but only at the cost of his life. Again Kamal and Nasser bring with them great essence and unputdownable chemistry. In presence of each other, u can feel the animosity growing. Even though the tone of the dialogues is deliberately on the cooler side, the characters borrow from the situation to make things very intense. Unmatchable portrayals, these. Truly rivers of blood.

And to round things off, is one last war of a very different kind. This is the fight of the socialist worker against the capitalist boss. The fight for justice against hypocrisy of the first order. In Anbe sivam, Kamal and Nasser take things to a higher level and their rivalry this time deals with much more important issues than just pride or defence. And they stun again. Kamal is great, both as the high voltage activist and the matured, enlightened,angel who knows how to get the work done. Nasser is perfect as the miser who wont give anything more than nine hundred and ten rupees to his workers. Their final interaction minutes before the marriage scene speak volumes of how these master performers have matured with the years and have ultimately hit the peak of conveying issues with subtlety and skill. Their war has moved from panache to purity and will forever remain unmoved in the minds of the audience. This is a tale of great on screen rivalry, which with just a handful of films to boast off, has overtaken most other rivalries repeated in more than two dozen movies.

13/50 : The Supreme Pen which had Ink of every other colour

2009-06-25T04:38:00.000-07:00

This is the story of a pen that was born in 1981. It was a Dustin Hoffman fan back then. So it included a sweet little tribute to "graduate" in its adaptation of 'Butterflies Are Free'. As expected, the pen - which was also a highly rated actor by then had casted itself in the lead in this , which was then a small budget experimental cinema but is now considered path breaking. The subtle romance of Raajaparvai was just the perfect way for Kamal Haasan to launch his career in screenwriting. A career that 28 years later stands tall as one of the country's best.

A few malayalam scripts and some unofficial screenplays later, Kamal collaborated with Sujatha to come up with the proper Indian combination of Indiana Jones and James Bond - From Credits to BGM to Action sequences and the plot as a whole, Vikram arrived on the Indian Screens, technically awesome but with too many loose ends. A work which any screenwriter of Kamal's standard can not be proud of. However, as we later realised, Kamal was only preparing for something much much bigger. Another collaboration with a person known to have written 'only' hit movies. It was a perfect match. While Panchu Arunachalam took care of the 'mass - pulse', Kamal brought in sequences which were a complete treat to any lover of great cinema. Aboorva Sahodrargal was a money making masterpiece / A commercial Classic / The pinnacle of mass+class/ The ultimate movie making output. And with this movie started the trend. A series of screenplays which take their sweet time to first get into the feel and later race off at an exhilarating pace, often ending with a complex chase in areas with heavy traffic. It had become the Kamal Stamp. Driving the car with the screenplay in the back seat and accelerating the vehicle into a bridge only to break off and free fall into the sea. But Aboorva Sahodrargal was very special. A comic take on the investigating policeman cliche and a sad tale of love failure injected into what was primarily a story of full blooded revenge.

Commerce Done. It was time now for Self Indulgence. Four Years. Four Films. Such amazing displays of mastery over the way the pen is to be handled. Stunning Variety too. What colours ! There is comedy supreme, psychedelia delusional, drama burning hot and tragedy unbearable. Micheal Madana Kamarajan, Guna, Devar Magan and Mahanadi are screenplays whose quality,tautness,variety and supremacy can simply not be matched. At least not in Indian Cinema yet. Michael Madana Kamarajan may look simple on screen. But the flow from one character to the other and the final connectors are not easy to represent. It is done in such a subtle manner that one is made to believe that is the only way the story can move. There is class written all over this super efficient screenplay. Then there is Guna - A peek into the delusional world. A simple story laced with ironies galore and some very tough to write sequences. Guna still stands tall as one of Tamil Cinema's very unique and special films. Devar Magan is in a different league altogether. Definitely One of the very few adaptations of Godfather that Puzo and Coppola would actually be proud of. A high voltage Drama that has clinical intensity "written" all over it. Voted once among the most Important Tamil Films of all time, Devar Magan owes its everything to the tight narrative. Then of course we have the true masterpiece. The gut wrencher. The soul stirrer. The movie through which Kamal splashes all the ink from his pen on the audience. Till they have no option but to cry. Mahanadi is just as great as any story can get. Even on book, Even without kamal's histrionics on screen, Mahanadi will make you cry. Such is the agony in the tale. He had reached unimaginable screenwriting heights by this time.

Post Mahanadi and Pre Hey Ram ( can be ranked number one and two among his works) , came magalir mattum (why kamal, why? ( chal its okay. it was at least well indianized) , Nammavar(WOW) and Kadala Kadala ( You are getting to form Boss) from Kamal's pen. Among these, Nammavar is a very very special film. A very well knit plot which impressed me particularly with its minor but very necessary references to the student life of the protagonist assistant professor.

Then Brilliant ink started to flow again. It was now getting very complicated - dishing out masterpiece after masterpiece. Each one jam packed with multi layered themes, hard hitting ironies, convoluted themes, intelligent sub-plots and endless wit. Hey Ram, Aalavandaan,Virumandi and Anbe Sivam were such stunning products. Leaving out Aalavandaan( the screenplay which kamal thinks is warped, was written by him way back in the eighties during his mumbai days), the other three plots must have taken months of staggering research and hardwork to have materialized. Hey Ram which hits you on your face with almost every element of its story is among the most thought provoking films I have ever seen. Writing Virumaandi and making it visibly different from Roshomon should be included as the final question in an examination for picking the best screenwriter of the world. Anbe Sivam with its themes are no less either. So many issues, both burning and old, beamed onto big screen through a very simple story of two different men travelling together. Masterful is THE word.

Mumbai Express was unique and Dasavatharam was a victim of its own budget. But he compensated in the latter with a flourish of just unimaginable witty dialogues. An article on his dialogue writing would follow soon. And one on Dasavatharam Dialogues alone is confirmed for sure. But I must confess, It gave me great joy and goosebumps rewinding through the career of one of the country's best screenwriters EVER. And if you still do not agree. The challenege is always open. Show me the Intensity, Show me the Variety and Show me the supremacy. I doubt if you can.

12/50 : The Director in Focus. part II - Hey Ram !!

2009-06-16T21:55:00.000-07:00

Gandhi never uttered Hey Ram before he died. Neither does Hey Ram depict him saying them out. The title, and on a bigger perspective, the movie itself, is a mega - tongue in cheek expression by Kamal Streetsmart Haasan. Through one of his most expressive films, he pretends as though he is going to bring shame to the title of the father of the nation but instead knocking us off with a brilliantly coreographed climax where we realise after a lot of self questioning, that Gandhi was indeed a great man - A very funny person, in fact.

But people who still believe HeyRam was a film about Gandhism and anti Gandhism and Gandhi in general have completely missed the bus. Heyram is the story of a man called Saket Ram whose name curiously is also the original name of Ayodhya - The place thats the source of both famous myth and infamous mysery. Heyram is the story of a country and its heavily explosive religious dynamics. Like a Baloon that can go phut anytime and generate first order chaos. In effect, Heyram , as a Professor from the university of Iowa put it, is a film about individual and collective madness.

And the toughest job for any person to ever do is to write about the director of Heyram without writing about the writer of the film. It is the deep multi-layered plot that gives way for those out of the world allegories from the director. It is the super shrewd references and sub plots from the writer that enable the technically brilliant shots of the film to look as good as they do. In effect , Hey Ram is more of a writer's film with one of Indian Cinema's most well crafted plots. But this article has the Director in focus. So here are some of the observations that many intense lovers of the movie have made about it.

This is a compilation of the thoughts of some of the ardent fans of the film :-.

1) Black and white for current and color for past indicates Gandhi brought color this is further reinstated toward the end when we see Gandhiji's painting in the wall and when the window is opened, light comes in - Gandhiji showed us the light

2) Nasser and the riots give an idea that violence was there when Gandhiji was there as well as at the current day - Nasser is just trying to do his duty to pacify the riots while Saket Ram the old man dies, he shows a helpless face - trying to say that similarly Gandhi also tried his best but invariably lives were taken away. If Nasser was the cause for Saket Ram's death then Gandhi is the cause for the other deaths during pre-independence partition time. Kamal again proves he is a great director.

3) His allegory that a blind girl helpless is amidst all those violent killings is a representation for innocent people amidst cruel blood thirsty individuals such as himself who killed for a cause but still can see the pain and suffering in spite of the obvious. So in short is tooth for tooth and eye for eye the right thing? - The allegoric metaphor of the poor little blind girl says it all....

4) During the killing of Rani Mukherjee pyrotechnics were used - a technical stand point equal to its english counterparts Saving Private Ryan/Band of brothers etc... where similar technics were used - blood oozing scene for instance

.5) Also during the recollection of her killing he juxtaposes a lizard which struggles around in blood - which symbolizes a species that is carnivorous and quite a killer for filling its stomach still does not like being pushed in a pool of blood. Its way too intelligent to even explain in words.

6) The exchange of ideas of Atul Kulkarni and his second wife Vasundara Das is a exchange of dialogue between the good and the evil(remember Atul says it is not wrong if you think in the hunter's angle and not in the hunted's angle) - where his one side of the brain vouches to be a Gandhian while the other to be a Hitler - which is obviously also juxtaposed in another scene where his mind oscillates between a Hitler's photo, a Gandhi's photo and to balance it a hindu Goddess's photo - between whats good, whats bad and whats right!

7) When Atul Kulkarni passes on the gun to Saket Ram, so does he pass a hatred

8) This hatred is so strong that it preempts Vasundhara's element of good nature which could have easily gotten into Saket Ram but he juxtaposes the anger superseding his wife's good moral values by showing a violent love making scene where he tames the good over the evil. He again symbolically represents a heavy duty gun being used for target practice that his mind thinks but his body merely makes love.

9) Gandhi is shown to have a light sense of humor and down to Earth. That coupled with the fact that Shah Rukh Khan (Amjed)' dialogue exchanges stating we can all be brothers in his usual bubly manner tells us that both are light humored people and are taking the bigger issues very easily and in a very intellectual and sensible manner. He gets a feeling his friend's death would serve a cause if Gandhi is let go. He becomes a Gandhian eventually. These are thoughts that slowly creeps into the audience's head while watching .

NOTE - Due to a lot of technical compulsions and space-time constraints, I can't post in at the same frequency i used to. It will take time but it will keep coming. Will buzz in here whenever something new comes up and you can check it out.

Hey ram.

11/50 : The Director in Focus , part I - Virumaandi

2009-06-15T22:35:00.000-07:00

An unmatchable sense of detailing. A heavily convoluted plot. A Some ruthless shots of blood splattering riots. Sudden and Uncanny twenty minute bouts of self indulgent romance.Ultra imaginative use of music. Razor sharp dialogues. Goose bumpy mythological references and One very strange piece of narration. The director in Kamal Haasan had truly arrived on the international arena with this, one of India's finest attempts at movie making. Though his other classic - Hey Ram! was the more critically acclaimed one, Virumaandi I feel is this director's most complete film. And not without reasons.

Virumandi, set in contemporary times but among the most rustic of backgrounds, is among the most superior movie making works originating from Tamil Cinema. Kamal Haasan starts the show with a very different and ultra allegoric credit chart. And Raaja starts haunting us right from this point where we see names rolling in the bg of a screen which is normally seen only when there is no telecast on TV. However, in this case the dormant screen itself is in black and grey. Hinting at unprecedented tragedy? I am sure he was, because a lot of it follows in the next one eighty minutes of a visually stunning motion picture.

Is the aim to drive home a point about capital punishment or is it just to use the burning issue of capital punishment to tell a tragic tale of truth and lie? We don't know ; but the way these tales unfold is where the catch lies. And had Peykaman not recited those lines of confession to the prisoners, we still wouldn't have known if Kottalathu Devar was speaking sense or if Virumaandi was really innocent. In fact, even now we don't know for sure. We only have strong clues. Such is the web of events that Kamal slowly builds around the audience.

Roshomon!! You may suddenly shout midway through this article. "Wait" is what I would say. Roshomon's four versions have Kurosawa chosing very different scenes for each narration. Kamal instead has the very same scene with the very same settings for both the narrations. The challenge of a lifetime that Kamal the writer poses to Kamal the film maker and the latter comes up triumphs like never before. Situations in Virumaandi are bound to be assistant director nightmares. To finally come up with such a polished product means the team is more than just professional. Kudos to the crew and the leader. Thalaivan Irukindraan. Very much in virumaandi.

Any article about virumaandi is incomplete without a mention of two very graphic blood red sequences stunningly shot and picturised by Haasan. The first one is Virumaandi's version of the attack on napolean's right hand. Chaos and tragedy, brothers in arms. The father is killed. The servant deserts, the mother tries to flee with infant in hand. There is a pull back to save. But the jerk throws the kid into a well and kills it. The mother goes mad. OMG. The second similar sequence is the riot inside the jail. It happens so fast. Too quick for the characters and the audience to digest. The effect is a small wrench near the gut.

To add to all this is romance - pure and sublime. Annalaksmi and Virumaandi, carry in their hearts the real soul of the film. They get married and make love. She is kidnapped and commits suicide later. He is blamed for the rape and the only proof of the marriage turns villain. The turn of events hits you hard on the chest. Virumaandi lost his love and will settle for nothing but brutal revenge.

This is the frequently told tale of the village ruffian but who tells it and how has made all the difference. Kamal Haasan adopts from Kubric (watch spartacus) and Kurosawa of course, but ultimately comes up with a very original and imaginative product. A mind boggling dose of brutally honest movie making iced over high range technical brilliance with a street smart narration to support. That is Virumaandi in a nut shell. Showcasing the endless talents of one of India's most Brilliant Directors.

10/50 : Kamal, Comedy and Krish King Nishanth

2009-06-12T01:46:00.000-07:00

We had come to Latha Chiti's Ashok Nagar house for summer vacations. I am not sure if Akka was there with us that day, but i clearly remember going for the noon show with Chiti, Amma and Atul. Singaravelan was my first ever trip to a theatre. And i remember loving everything Kamal Haasan did on screen. I sang kakeekekoo along with him and was addicted to O langa Sri Langa Cobbara Thenga by the time we left the theatre. Even as we were returning home by auto, Chiti said "Aanalum Unga Kamalukku Height pathadhu". Did she assume that this four old year kid is a Kamal Fan or did she think this film of his has made him one? Did she know that from almost that very moment, Kamal became my favourite Tamil Hero?

"Aana avan dhaan nalla acting panran. Azhagavum Irukaan. Rajini oda" retorted my mom. Her metamorphosis from a hardcore rajini/mgr fan to a devotee of Sivaji and Kamal is a very interesting case. Unlike those who say they like Kamal more because they are fans of good artistic cinema, she still maintains that Kamal simply entertains her more than anyone else. We came back home and both Atul and I sang Olanga SriLanga almost non stop for the next two days. Then My mother (or was it Periamma ?) got me a video casette. Looked like just another casette - black rectangle with a white label and some tape inside. We played it in the VCR and there was an old man showing a movie to a group of kids. "Kadha Kelu Kadha Kelu" he said. Four infants taken away by four different people is what i could make of the first song.

And that is how the romance of my life got started. From that day onwards, Akka Appa Amma and I watched Michael Madana Kamarajan at the rate of minumum one view per week to a maximum of 2 views per day. For almost eighteen years now, we have always used dialogues from this movie in our daily conversations and whenever we feel like it, we watch the movie and laugh our hearts out. There is no other film that has become so much a part of our lives and no other film has made us laugh this much. MMKR had set a trend. Ever since then, we have thoroughly enjoyed every other comedy film from Kamal Haasan, most of them on first day, noon show.

The next Kamal Comedy film that all of us watched in theatre was Magalir Mattum. This time Akka played the addict and kept repeating the "moonu paeroda scooter eppadi pohum" dialogue even after we reached home. A great laugh we again had. As it happens with most Kamal films, the dialogues just stuck with us. They came into our home and nudged us away from all potentially dull moments. One of us would utter that dialogue over dinner and the entire family would laugh remembering the scene. Golden moments those.

Raajam Paati, was there when we watched Avvai Shanmukhi in theatre. I was ten by then and even though I still was not in a position to enjoy all the adult stuff that i had by then also missed in MMKR and Singaravelan, I did get some glimpse of it. A wider view, if one can call it that. And we laughed again. Through out the film. We discussed his mannerisms for weeks after the show. And the admiration just kept growing. Kadala Kadala was even more special. Prabhu Deva was already a rage and watching him perform with our kula deivam was a memorable experience. Situations from the movie still remail fresh in my mind. My father, not a movie buff by any standards, is one of the many die hard fans of that ajay ratnam sequence in the film.

By the time Pammal K Sambantham, Panchathantiram and Mumbai Express released, I had watched MMKR, Singaravelan and Kadala Kadala a lot of times on TV and had also caught up with the brilliantly shrewed adult comedy that I had missed when I was a kid. "Konjam Thooki Kaami. Chi ponganna vekkama irukku" from MMKR falls under one such category. A million puns in one small line. For the kid and for the one who wants one :D. "Can i have an ammuks"?
More than these, my mental maturity also allowed me to grasp some inner serious meanings these comedies wanted to convey. The entire murugan episode in Kadala Kadala is one such mega mock at theism. The imaginary father-death-flashback from Singaravelan is just as good as a spoof on masala cinema can get. Such minor flashes of artistic and issue based brilliance struck me only when i watched them recently.

Another very interesting episode is when Amma Appa Perimma and I decided to watch Mumbai Express first day night show. Sunil had seen Chandramukhi that night. We met at school the next day. I told him that all of us loved the film and this is probably Kamal's best after MMKR. Only later did I realise that apart from the four of us, Only Ajay Srinath and Bharadwaj Rangan had loved the film. No one else in the whole wide world. But i can still recommend this flick for lovers of dry and black humour. Infact Perimma was amazed by what she had seen "Evalo talent illa ivanukku? Ivalo nalla sirikkavechirikaan nambala eppodhume" , she said

They say films are just for time pass and don't mean much to life. They are wrong. There are films and there are people who without our own knowledge become an integral part of our household. In no time, we own their lines and before we realise, we start playing their roles. Kamal and his brand of comedy means more to my family than an old photo album does. Because when we watch his movies, we relive the happiest and the funniest moments of our lives.

9/50 North of the Vindhyas

2009-06-09T23:55:00.001-07:00

South Indians making it big in Bollywood is a very rare case. But whenever such "madrasi" talents do emerge in bombay, they end up stunning the entire film fanatic nation with either beauty or skill or both. Vyjayanthi Mala, Hema Malini, Sridevi and Asin have constantly presided over most North Indian dreams and A.R Rahman has been the most played artist in as many North Indian iPods. While the former set of people are a treat to watch on screen, the latter bowls you over with sheer talent. Way back in the eighties, there was a southie star who was a majestic combination of both. He was a heartthrob. He was a writer's delight. He was a rage. And He left it all when he was literally on the top giving every other actor a major run for his money. He left it because he did not like the way Bombay functioned. He came back for a brief spell in the late nineties and almost seemed to get back the glory but then there was a twist in the tale. He suddenly found the collective Bollywoodian ego working completely against him and even his latest film which was a blockbuster down south opened to lukeworm response in the north of the Vindhyas. We are talking about Kamal Haasan's Hindi Film Career.

1981. Maro Charitra had been such a revelation and the concept had to be broken to a wider audience. K.Balachander had complete faith in what definitely was among his best love stories. So they went ahead with a complete South Indian crew, except the music makers ,to Bombay to make and release what is now the probably the highest rated and most remembered Hindi romance films of all times - Ek Duje Ke Liye. And though the film as a whole was a rage, the most recognizable face out of it was that of Kamal Haasan. He had come up with a top notch performance and already every producer was taking the next flight to Madras.

And that is why you have Do Dil Diwane, Sanam Teri Kasam, Afsana Do Dilon Ka, Dil Ka Sathi Dil, and the self referential /eponymous Yeh to Kamaal Ho Gaya. These were Hindi films starring Kamal Haasan made at a mad man's pace. (Even though it is a different issue that this Kamal found this very pace slow when compared to what he could do down south. - The previous year had seen a record 22 films of his, release). These Hindi films were mostly average, though some of them managed to gross huge earnings in the market. Most of them missed the basic point though and the North Indian audience , by now, had a confusing image of Haasan. Is he the award winning kind of guy, Or does he just dance well?

Every speculation was put to rest with Sadma, the dubbed version of Moondram Pirai. It made every Mumbaikar sit up and watch in awe the multiple talents of Kamal, Ilayaraja and Balu Mahendra in display. But then again, Kamal went into another streak of now-hardly-known set of Hindi movies. Namely Raj Tilak, Yaadgar, Ek Nai Paheli, Yeh Desh, Pyasa Shaitan, and Aakhri Sangram. Some of these remakes, Some original, Mostly low profile. None making a dash whatsoever in the bolly market.

1985.Then came his second major attack at the Hindi hearts. Saagar was the name of the film. Guru's of romance, Kamal Haasan and Rishi Kapoor engaged in a complex triangle with the now much more mature Dimple Kapadia. The film was a Blockbuster the moment it released and made big at the awards circuit too. Kamal bagging the very rare honour of being the best actor and the best supporting actor in the same Filmfare awards. (The logic of this has however always beaten my mind). Saagar was a perfect show from Kamal. A textbook on how subtle acting should be. Probably learnt from his Aval Appididhaan Days. And it is at this very moment that Kamal was ready to be King. The Amitabh era was inching towards a close and there was no visible successor. Had Kamal stayed on, the gap would have been filled. But he chose to stay away. The way bollywood functioned was not to his liking. Right from the fact that most shootings ran late and the whole setup was not very professional. Kamal had major plans for his industry back home and we know how well he executed them from Nayakan to Anbe Sivam.

From Saagar onwards, if at all there was a Kamal film releasing in Mumbai, it would only be a dubbed version of his Tamil hits. Pushpak did not need dubbing and went on to be a huge hit among the connoiseurs. Aboorva Sahodrargal was dubbed as Appu Raja and caught on with the Hindi crowd like a magnet. The entertainment quotient was too high for distributors to put it down and so the film was a huge success. But after this, for a long long time when Kamal was missed up there, he was here busy producing Guna, writing Mahanadi, Making Kurudhipunal and the likes.

1997. Shankar's Indian was released simultaneously in Hindi as Hindustani and the counters started clicking again. There was a huge buzz about the entire film and every distributor was busy buying its rights and re releasing it as and when possible. The fact that Urmila and Manisha were on top, also helped and Kamal was suddenly back with a brand new bag of tricks for the North Indians.

1998. Going along with the momentum that Hindustani had given him, Kamal decided to remake (not dub) his tamil hit Avvai Shanmughi into Hindi. There was a new director and the whole cast was new and fully bollywood. A few weeks into the shooting, Kamal had major differences with the newcomer director and so he bid him goodbye. He took on the director's mantle, officially for the first time in his career (He wanted to reserve this till Marudhanayagam but fate had other plans). And so Chachi 420 was born. The film will be remembered as Kamal Haasan's biggest and LAST Hindi hit. Because after this, the slide went downwards and has not stopped yet.

Hey Ram was not expected to do well anyway and to ensure some amount of visibility, Kamal roped in Shahrukh (who reportedly worked for free because he was so amazed by the script) . But shahrukh could not help. The film came in for heavy praise from the critics but literally failed to reach the masses. Thanks to numerous bans by local distributors leery of its heavy-hitting themes. Abhay was a collosal flop. Unlike Heyram, even the critics turned their backs this time round. Mumbai Express followed suit and was decently joined by Dasavathar - The Hindi dub of the Tamil Blockbuster.

The obvious conclusion one can make out of this career is that the actor has got his timing wrong. To release Dasavathar during multiplex Raj and to make Hey ram when no one even read reviews is not the way it works. But regardless of box office and regardless of what Taran Adarsh thinks about Dasavathar. No Indian who has ever followed Hindi Cinema will disagree with the fact that Kamal is the most versatile actor to have grazed bolly land. The variety in roles and the professionalism in performance will forever remain unmatched and who knows? As Kamal recently declared his plans to make a multilingual with a national cast, those glory Days may just be an year away.

8/50 When the dumbfounded left you dumbfounded

2009-06-08T05:02:00.000-07:00

1987-88 was a watershed year in Kamal Haasan's acting career. After stunning the world with the hugely acclaimed role of Velu Nayakar, Kamal ventured into a very unique project. Pushpaka Vimanam - The silent film. Any discussion about this film can not do without at least a five hundred words about the genius of Singeetham Srinivaasa Rao - the writer director of this, probably India's shrewdest movie ever. Every single minute of the two hour long master piece is filled with deep allegories that make you think. The social satire just hits you on your face. In this film, even minute sounds have a meaning. To watch the film is an unforgettable experience. It forces you to wear your thinking caps and you return from a film, a learned man. To convey some of the most complicated social theories in a story as simple as this requires very effective narrating skill and Singeetham seems to have loads of it. I promise to come up with a scene-by scene analysis of this silent piece of mind blowing poetry. Lets get back to the point.

Pushpak would not have been Pushpak had the unnamed protagonist not been played by Kamal. In the initial scenes at the shawl, Kamal is expected to show only the very basic human emotions of disgust, jealousy, hunger and irritation. The ball starts rolling when Kamal is amazed by the carelessness of the drunk resident of Pushpak - the hotel for the rich. The way his body reacts to the surroundings in the scene when he drags the rich man to his room to tie him up is probably the most natural set of human reactions I have seen on silver screen. Kamal reacts to every single sound and every single motion, afraid that some one might find out. And there is no over action, though the scene provides ample scope for it.

As if this was not natural enough, Kamal comes up with yet another gem when inside the room 3039 of Pushpak, when he looks at a mirror as big as him. Shocked, thinking that he has actually seen some other person, Kamal gets his eyebrows sky high and falls off on the bed. A beautiful combination of the face and body - Like how a brilliant painter would use the variety of his colours and the speed of his brush.

Since there are no dialogues and there is no one's voice over to remind us of the fact that Kamal is actually staying in a place that is not his own, everything is left to his expressions alone. When Amala slaps him during the dinner scene, Kamal gives an expression of grief combined with shock and a sudden sense of realisation. Clearly differentiating between how it would have been had it been just grief and shock and no realisation. The reaction is a thing to remember. In a similar such sequence, Kamal is inside Amala 's room as a waiter , hiding under a bench and Farida Jalaal slaps him. There is double irony for the viewer here because firstly Kamal can't shout a word as the film doesn't have dialogues. But secondly Kamal actually can't shout a word because otherwise Farida Jalaal, who should not see him, will hear it. Again, Kamal differentiates and gives the expression that perfectly fits the latter situation.

Next comes the crucial scene in the film where Kamal realises the fact that some is out to kill the man whose room he is occupying. When returning to the city after knowing the truth, he looks at the beggars death and at the completely inhumane act of the corporation boys who drop the dead body in the middle of the road and run behind the money from the beggar's bag. Kamal's eyes tell us that he is currently equating himself with those corporation boys and is terribly ashamed of what he has done in the last few days. No one else is explaining all this. Only Kamal and his eyes.

Through out his stay in Pushpak hotel, Kamal buys and wears very costly dresses which do fit his body. But in order to send the message across to the viewer that the protagonist is actually new to all this richness, Kamal deliberately looks very uncomfortable in everything he wears. A stunning piece of homework. The difference is even more striking when you see the same kamal look very comfortable in similar dresses he wears in other films.

The best scene among all is definitely the one where among loud fun fare and magic, Kamal is to explain to Amala, through sign language, that he does not own the room and that all he has done is wrong and that he is leaving it now. He writes the letter but they don't show the text. Its all through his hands that point away from the hotel, his tears that mock at his own ironic situation and his eyes that feel sad for leaving amala mid way through a very heart warming love story. Kamal is like an expression - machine. You name it and he has it. From the basic to the most complex. Every thing is in that brilliant face.

As an actor in such a silent film. one is both literally and figuratively dumbfounded. But to come up with a performance that subtly conveys to the audience more than what words could have said or frenzied action could have done , requires tonnes of expressive talent. I have an endless collection. Declares Kamal Haasan.

7/50 : The Quintessential Cop

2009-06-06T21:19:00.000-07:00

Back here, in Tamil cinema, films where prominent actors play the cop role are looked at as an 'occasion'. - A celebration of sorts. These are also used as a benchmark to judge performances and for many actors, cop movies have gone on to become memorable check points in their career. Kamal has done a fair share of police based cinema and has come up triumphs more often than not. In this article we zoom in on a couple of his very special portrayals and run through the rest of his "police career"

Adhi narayanan is a class act. Kamal's body language through out the film adapts itself to the changing character sketch. The strict and confident police officer who later finds himself in a desperate losing situation couldn't have found a better face on silver screen. Kamal's uses subdued facial expressions to great effect in the interrogative scenes. The tension builds up because the audience is not sure of what the calm interrogating officer may do the next moment. The effect would have flown off had Kamal been just another cop shouting like a mad man at Nasser. Kamal's unique coarse voice is a huge plus too. Some of the most unforgettable moments from the film include the scene where Kamal utters the famous "Everyone has a breaking Point" line dialogue ; The scene where Kamal tells his son that he was only kissing his mother ( If this is not natural acting, then what is?) ; The sequence where Kamal declares to Gauthami that he is losing the war and of course the extremely goose bumpy climax sequence. The climax in particular deserves one separate article on it. This is what I had written about that scene in one of my past write ups :- " that coarse yet high pitched voice, that blood painted face, that broken tooth, those eyes and he goes SHOOT ME MY MAN, SHOOT ME, MY MAN - MY BOY , SHOOT ME - AND THATS A BLOODY ORDER - as a viewer u feel, yes, this is the ultimatum, any actor can't thrill u more than this, and u surrender completely to adinarayanan,."

When I first met Raghavan, He came across as a poor shadow of Adi Narayanan. I wasn't satisfied with what saw till his wife got kidnapped. Then the real scenes of the movie started to flow and there he was, Playing his age, Body language intact, Expressions in place. Raghavan had arrived. The one-hand push up cum tape recorder scene is probably as authentic as it can get. The fact that a cop speaks more with the body and less with the mouth is re established with Kamal's portrayal in this pic. Looking at him perform is such a relief when compared to other policemen - heroes of Tamil Cinema who dance, crack jokes and deliver punch dialogues at the drop of an eyelid. It takes the consistency out of the character and that is something Kamal has tried his best to maintain in the film even though the screenplay subjects Raghavan to an unnecessary duet in the middle of the second half.

Adi and Raghavan made a major mark, but each took at least two and half hours to do it. One police officer required only ten minutes. In those ten minutes, he played the feared cop and the lovable husband and came up with a gamut of brilliant expressions when being killed. His name is Sethupathy - The father of a couple of 'aboorva sahodrargal'. This stunning cop-cameo apart, Kamal perfectly cast himself as Indian James Bond in Vikram,. He also played the best looking cop in the history of Tamil Cinema in Soora Samharam and looked equally great in Oru Kaidhiyin Dairy. Balram Naidu is also from RAW but his role was more humour and less police. So we will talk about that portrayal some other time.

In Dasavatharam's Audio Launch, Hero Vijay made a note of the saying that 'Even real life cops look at kamal'spolice films to see what kind of body language is to be used' . Though this line was meant more as a symbolic reference, I sometimes think there is nothing wrong if such a situation were to crop up. The law will find itself in safer hands. Because in Kamal, Tamil Cinema finds its quintessential cop. The one whose very posture is symbolic with strength, intelligence, chivalry and passion.

6/50 : KAMESHWARAN

2009-06-05T00:12:00.001-07:00

Indians boast of great romantic stories originating from their land. They make frequent references to these in all their literary works and are proud to have come from the land of mumtaz - shahjahan, heer - ranjha and laila - majnu. But, if that is the case, then why does the rest of the international film fraternity mock continuously at Indian romance movies calling them nothing but weird musicals. They say Indian tales of love are artificial bollocks of piled up cliches. There is nothing real in this kind of love, they say. To an extent they are right. Thanks to film makers who , claiming to be using super symbolic allegories, depict a kiss by showing 2 flowers covering the faces of the actor and the actress and depict sex by showing only the clothes on the floor or sometimes only the light going off. There is song , there is dance, but there is no romance. They say.

Because of these Indian film makers who forget the essence and the need for physicality behind any good romantic relationship, the contributions of some other Indian 'gods of filmi romance' are completely over looked. This being the early stages of the fifty article series, we are yet to move away from Kamal the actor and so this post is about why the way Kamal loves women on screen is the way it should be done.

Very early in his career as male lead, Kamal bagged the role of a lifetime. The very name of the movie describes the scope for romance (of all forms). Manmadha Leelai - K. Balachander's flashy sex comedy where the married protagonist has a very obvious weakness for most of the beautiful women he meets (Including a lady whom he only talks on phone to. He calls her 'wrong number')

Kamal , though a fresher then, played out this brilliantly scripted character with an unforgettable ease. The way he repeats his catch phrase to every women he meets is a complete treat to watch.

woman:- Ungallukku Kalyanam aayirutha?

Kamal :- Indha Kelvikku Naa eppodhume Illa nu dhaan badhil solluven. Yen theriyuma?

Woman:- Yen?

Kamal:- Yen na, enakku nejamave kalyanam aaghala

Later on in his career, Kamal constantly stood for realistic and aesthetic portrayal of romance on screen. The scenes of Kamal kissing his heroines on their lips with Ilayaraja's beautiful music flowing in the background became a common thing. The real lovers of good, honest cinema found art in it. The other immature people saw vulgarity. But undeterred with all the unnecessary criticism, Kamal continued till as recent as even Virumandi to show what true love is all about.

The physical bond, when shown, helps a lot more in establishing the connection and the warmth in the audience's mind. And in stories where after making love, the pair is split or killed, these scenes add a lot more value and go on to have a much bigger effect on the audience. Starting from Kamal's kiss to Rekha in Punnagai Mannan, to his intimate romance with Gauthami in Devar Magan, Nammavar, Kurudhi Punal and more, each act is a masterful depiction of hundred percent true love. And that is how it has to be seen.

There are many proper romance films of kamal's in the eighties and a lot has already been written about them. But even in films of other genres where kamal is shown to have a romantic relationship , he excels in completely capturing the mood as an actor. One is never allowed to feel that the film is moving away from its focus point and that there is no need for the hero and the heroine to love each other at this point of the script. Such is the presence that Kamal brings on to the screen. Just like his lip to lip kiss to Suganya in Mahanadi where the intention of the scene is to show Kamal sharing all his worries with Suganya.. and as usual Kamal makes the kiss do all the talking.

5/50 : The Top Ten 'Kamal Made Us Cry' moments

2009-06-04T04:42:00.000-07:00

10) " Mom had goats, Mom had cows ..." ..

Call it cliched.Call it over dramatic.Call it unnecessary. Even call it over acting. But when the movie released, it was not all this way. It was harsh. It was on the face. And it made you cry. This extremely famous dialogue from Bharatiraja's Padinaaru Vayadhinile is situated at the make or break point of the film's screenplay and thanks to Kamal's perfect execution, it goes on to propel the film into further greatness. Even as the innocent Kamal tells the haughty but now crashing down to earth - sridevi that he will remain as faithful as a dog to her family, tears start rolling from her eyes and from those of the audience too.

9) A heart breaks near the sea shore

The mid 1980's movie which won Kamal both the best actor and the best supporting actor award from Filmfare (hindi) has one very touching and uneasy scene where Kamal experiences his love for Dimple Kapadia go down the drain and then shares the disturbing moment with the nanny who brought him up. In between hiccups and cries, Kamal expresses agony and depression at having lost the love of his life in a very touching style. This Saagar scene will surely make you feel bad.

8) "Do you know what Annalakshmi means?"

Tamil Cinema has a collection of some of the greatest village based tragedies. Adding to the list is this love story of Virumaandi and Annalakshmi which ends in Annalakhsmi's suicide and Virumaandi being accused of her rape. Though the scene as such doesn't carry great effect, the build up to it is what makes it so special. The couple are madly in love and have great plans of a future that doesn't need any caste or money. Their life is almost started when the tale takes a twist ninety degrees downwards and the audience has these uneasy sad butterflies doing the rounds in their stomachs.

7) Catastrophe in my village

Kamal's pen combines with Kamal's eyes to generate one of the most disturbing sights in world cinema. An entire Village is being washed out and the son of the Village head reaches the site of the accident to look at the dead body of a new born kid hanging on a tree branch. He cries, asks people whos kid it is and then gives that look of depression - A stunning display of grief and remorse. His eyes ask a million questions to which they know there are no answers and the scene is etched in the hearts of the audience. This one from Devar Magan had my hand on my mouth with an 'Oh My God, what the fuck is happening' feeling running all over my mind.

6) Dance and Devastation

People always die in films. The films which make these deaths the most ironical, triumph in getting the tragedy across to the audience. Saagara Sangamam has one such crucial sequence. Balakrishna (Kamal the dancer) has got the break of his lifetime - A chance to perform in the national dance competition. A chance to ensure a happy future for his suffering mother whom he loves the most. His win in the competition would also mean a lot to his mother. And as all of them are getting geared up for it, as all their dreams are on the threshold of reality, as happiness is about to strike, She Dies... Kamal is emotionally devastated and the sting in this sequence from Saagara Sangamam is more than painful.

5) When An Indian's Daughter burned alive

An old pitiable man is torn between values and emotions and an irreparable personal loss. Which Indian Actor can show this best on screen? Kamal Haasan, in a tribute of sorts to Dileep Kumar, depicts helplessness in as helpless a manner as possible. The audience has no escape. The actor makes your heart sink even if you try closing your eyes. The hospital scene from Indian is one very tough to digest moment.

4) APARNA

Even as I type down these lines, there is a slight shrink near the gut. One terribly tragic moment in Hey Ram ranks right up there among the most depressing scenes of Indian Cinema. Saket Ram returns from home from a long tour. Makes love with Aparna - his wife. Goes out to buy vegetables, though Aparna warns of riots. On his way back, he meets a young girl being chased by a huge mob. Saves her and gets her to her place. Returns back home to find men waiting to rape his wife. His hands are tied and his neck is pressed under a piano study. All that he can do is hear his wife fight and cry and look at her torn dress on a mirror. He frees himself and goes to her to find her neck slit open. He bursts into shock. Doctor and Aparna are the only words that come to his mouth. He limps to the phone and finds it not working. Jumps back to Aparna and she has no life left. "Doctor" he cries again as words barely make it out of his mouth. I cried.

3) "Enna Viji? Cheenu. Cheenu Viji"

Talk of mental pain and there can't be anything worse than this. The girl whom you discovered homeless and not in a state of mental stability has now been restored to normality thanks to your undying efforts. The future is bright and suddenly she is found by her original family. You are probably happy for her only when you discover that she has totally forgotten who you are. You jump, You cry, You roll on the railway station. You make as many gestures as possible. She says something. When you hear it loud, to your greatest shock, you find out that she just called you a beggar. You fight, disagreeing, with still hope that she will remember your glory days. The train doesn't allow. It rushes off in a hurry. Moondram Pirai. Climax sequence. If this can't make you weep, then what will?

2) Unbearable Agony at the registrar's office

The case is simple. There is a conversation between Appu and the love of his life which he makes out to be a proposal for marriage from her side. When he reaches the registering office with a ring, he finds that he has only been invited as a mediating witness. This shock later transcends into one amazing piece of acting. Appu the joker has a mask and is crying about his lost love. As an audience, one comes to a conclusion that probably the feeling is too difficult to be expressed, even by an actor as great as kamal and so he is using a mask. In a sudden action proving us all wrong is kamal, who takes of his mask and cries his heart out. Its all in his face. A gamout of depressing emotions. A masterful act in aboorva sahodrargal from one of misery's greatest friends.

1) "How many times in a day will you guys screw me, haan?"

Two words - Gut Wrenching. The top spot belongs to scene that is bound to cause extreme emotional anguish to anyone who watches it.. In mahandi the character played by kamal is in jail and his daughter is sold off to a prostitute centre... he finds her and brings her back home. She has always had a habit of blabbering in sleep and this time she asks imaginary men not to screw her so many times in a day, saying she is not a machine... kamal the dad who watches all this is horrified beyond limits and his reaction (with cries paused by forced periods of silence), is simply an unparalleled master act.

4/50 : LINGUAPHILIA !!!

2009-06-02T10:12:00.000-07:00

In dialogue delivery lies the soul of acting. It is a major criteria in measuring an actor's worth. The actor who does it better and in as many ways as possible is called the best and the most versatile. Unlike the last article, this time, I am not anywhere away from India to give an example of who is best at it. By all means and by all logical reasoning, it is Kamal Haasan - the polyglot. Kamal in his 50 year long career has mastered as many as 20 Indian dialects and has reproduced them on screen with bang on brilliance. Here is an account of the incredibly long list of lingo's that kamal haasan has mesmerised us with.

It all started off with Ek Duje Ke Liye, where in a scene when kamal returns from the one year separation, he is expected to show off the Hindi he has learnt during his stay outside. Kamal bursts into his prospective in laws' place and stuns everyone with one liner's in as many as 8 different accents of Hindi and marathi. The performance, voice modulation and the accent is incredibly flawless.

But Ek Duje Ke Liye was a minuscule version of what was coming. In the late eighties a comedy movie was made. It told the story of a set of quadruplets. The actor who played the four roles topped the madras bashai, bulldozed over the iyengar slang and clobbered the NRI accent. And it was only the language that differentiated the four characters as each of them looked the same. He would later go on to individually master each of these above mentioned slangs and even more in many films of his. The name of the film is Michael Madana Kama Rajan and the actor is the inimitable Kamal Haasan.

Then, later in his career, he spoke the local madras dialect like no other actor ever has in Maharaasan, Kadala Kadala and Pammal K sambandham. The last being a masterpiece as far as dialogue delivery is concerned. A breakthrough of sorts, given no other film has had the lead speaking so fluently in the language of the Chennai rickshawallahs.

The Nri accent returned in Dasavatharam where Govind, the main protagonist presented some very shrewd one liners. In the same very movie, he claimed the throne to the most versatile speech maker with his performance as the tamil talking telugu cop - Balram Naidu - A role which tickled ever rib and made every jaw drop. The Nellai lingo which had eluded Haasan for quite some time was perfected in Dasavatharam again with the highly acclaimed role of Vincent Poovaraghavan. In Dasavatharam, Kamal also spoke proper American English, Indian Urdu, Punjabi and what not.

Another such effort that won huge accolades is the Srilankan Tamil that Kamal used in Thenali. The Indian version of What about Bob which doesn't remind us of the original thanks to the brilliant use of this very different dialect of Tamil. In Thenali, Kamal sounded like how any other Srilankan Tamil would. Perfection personified once again.

However, the jewel in Kamal's dialogue delivery crown is not any of the roles mentioned above. The peach resides in Coimbatore. Its called Sathi Leelavathi where Kamal as Dr.Sakthivel literally OWNS the Coimbatore slang. This, among the greatest of laugh riots is definitely the most satisfying of all triumphs over any spoken language. Kamal, pulls of with elan, a stupendous performance as the innocent, yet funny doctor from Coimbatore. Along with Kovai Sarala who belongs to the city, Kamal produced one of the most remembered cameos of all time. Sathi Leelavathi is the best of the best - the true peak of linguaphilia.

3/50 : KAMAL HAASAN AND THE NON COMPOS MENTIS

2009-06-01T21:51:00.000-07:00

It is common to find people with a view that playing a mentally disturbed person on screen is too easy an ask. All that one has to do is go berserk at anything and everything. However, The truth is that portraying autism is not as easy as it looks like. The difference between a third grade actor playing the mad man and a seasoned performer depicting a neurotic is the consistency in expressions. Why should a nut be consistent with expressions ? U might ask. It is only then that the depth in the character is established in the minds of the audience. A psychologically disintegrated character on screen could be designed to generate fear, disgust, pity or love from the viewer. To pull off the required effect needs skill.

The face that comes first to our mind when we think of such roles is that of Jack Nicholson - a proven master in the field. So much so that an ordinary American can not accept any other genre coming from Nicholson's stable. He yearns for the psycho. Among others, Dustin Hoffman played the autistic to perfection in Rainman. Antony Hopkins playing Hannibal Lecter depicting the completely other end of the human brain is equally brilliant too.

In Indian Cinema there is one legendary performer who in just four to five attempts, has tried as many variations at presenting the anti social personality disorder to a crowd not very familiar with the disease. Kamal Haasan in swathi muthyam, guna, aalavandaan, and to some extent in sivappu rojakkal has done the art proud with phenomenal portrayals. This is a commentary on the various dimensions of kamal playing the mentally challenged.

In Guna, Kamal plays a mentally affected youth who is promised by an inmate in his mental asylum that a beautiful girl called Abirami will marry him on a full moon day. Apart from decolourising himself and looking toxicated through out the film, Kamal comes up with a very well researched performance. His dialogue delivery and expressions in general are probably the closest one can get to a lunatic. His acting in the scene with Girish Karnad where he endlessly walks around a cot repeatedly uttering 'abirami' after expressing thorough disgust with his mother's profession is a complete stunner. Kamal, through guna, gives us a wide view of not only the tragedies of the delusional world but also the cute things about it. The love which Guna has for abirami, for example, is of the purest kinds which does not expect anything in return. Kamal tries to tell us that no sane man could love any lady like that and he does tell it well with his histrionics in the famous 'kanmani anbodu kadhalan' song which is a tribute to true, unadulterated romance.

In Swathi Muthyam, Kamal's Portrayal of an autistic man won him the best actor award in the Asian Film Festival in 1985. An intersting trivia about this film is that while a song was being pictured, kamal was required to dance out of rhythm as his role is that of a man not in sync with the times. But given the brilliant dancer that Kamal is, the actor found it very tough to perform the required steps and only after rigorously 'unlearning' all his dance basics did kamal eventually sizzle in the final take. Though K.Vishwanath's story and handling of the film is very special, its Kamal's gestures and innocence in expressions that takes the cake.

In Aalavandhaan Kamal plays nandu - a schizophrenic accused of the childhood murder of his stepmother and confined to an asylum for the criminally insane. This is an unfortunate case of a brilliant performance gone unnoticed due to below par characterisation. Fortunately, if kamal is to blame for the latter, it is the same kamal who should be praised for the former. Right from the introduction of nandu, where there is a clear tribute to Hopkins, Kamal is maverick as the heavily built, bald psychopath brother who finds himself in the position that he is in, thanks to the toss of a coin. Reports from members of the shooting units suggest that Kamal lived the character through out the filming of his role. Among the other films where kamal has played the mentally disturbed, his mannerisms are most profound in this film. Nandu flexes his neck bones every now and then, rattles off poem after poem, doublet after doublet, makes weird animal like noises and is very dangerously violent. Nandu for students of method acting, is an unforgettable lesson.

There are other instances where kamal has had to enact the characters of men in their own world. In Sigappu Rojakkal kamal is a deranged women killer. In kalyanaraman and padinaaru vayadhinile , kamal is a simpleton who is averse to logic of any kind. All in all if there is one actor in India who does sincere justice to such roles, then it has to be Kamal Haasan. Through such jaw dropping performances, Kamal brings to life the most complex side of the human brain. The maniac, the unstable, the upset, the psycho neurotic - You name it and he's done it. Kudos to these - some of the most marvellous attempts in the profession of acting will get to see.

2/50 : THE LORD OF THE THREE SILVER LOTUSES

2009-05-31T22:46:00.000-07:00

In any artist's career remuneration is a bliss only till some point, after which he/she yearns for recognition, praise, applause, encouragement and here's the keyword - AWARDS. In India, if at all there is an honour equivalent to the most prestigious Academy Awards of USA , its the 'national film awards' , started in 1954 and run by the Indian Government's Directorate of Film Festivals. Like every other award , this too has been controversial at times with a huge section of crowd not finding itself in agreement with the decisions made. But more often than not, the national awards, (also known as "Silver Lotus" ) get the judgement right. For the true actors of India, these awards mean more than a hundred days of house full shows.

Kamal Haasan, along with Mohanlal leads the list of silver lotus winners with a grand total of Four National awards. Three of them for the best acting performance by the male lead and the other for the best performance by a child artist (in his very first film. kalathoor kannama). Mohanlal too has only 3 awards under the category of best actor, the other being a special jury award he got for kreedom.

This post is an analysis of kamal's performance in Moondram Pirai, Nayakan and Indian - The three movies for which he bagged the top honour. Then there is a competition between his portrayal of these three roles and the winner will be declared right here at the end of the post :) . Thirdly there is also a list of kamal performances that should have definitely won the national award.

Moondram Pirai - Call it reading Shakespeare's King John or watching Harold Llyod perform in safety first, something had got to Kamal Haasan. The actor was possessed with a new spirit and started putting all his body and its language into every scene he acted in. The result was extra ordinary and continued into many future attempts starting off with saagara sangamam. I am talking about getting physically involved with emoting. There is no better scene to prove this than the legendary railway station climax scene where kamal's cries hit you like a hammer on the head. The actor had made himself immortal with just seven minutes of inimitable brilliance.

(vote for )Moondram pirai - for a subtle yet strong execution of a role which on paper was not as brilliant as it was made to look on screen.

NAYAKAN - I don't have to write anything about this most often talked about role of Kamal Haasan . (Though as a hardcore kamal maniac, I consider it insulting when this role is rated above that of Devar Magan). From the jury of Time magazine to Feroz Khan, everyone is a fan of Velu Nayakar. I too love the film but feel the actor in Kamal has given many better products than this one. However some of his expressions and dialogues from this film have left me dumbstruck. The scene where nayakar is introduced to his north indian and telugu counterparts is a gem. Kamal talks about how he knows each of the gang lords in a style that can hardly be matched. Also the way his eyes go when his daughter asks him to leave her house and spare her son are a complete gem. Otherwise there is a lot of brando in the nayakan Kamal and he does full justice to the character obviously written with every nuance of Brando in mind.

(vote for) Nayakan - for a performance that made the entire world look back at south India.

INDIAN - "Take this old mentally disturbed jerk to the prisons" , shouts the young corrupt son with hatred and guilt in his eyes. The father growls back with anger and shock. If there is any actor who can effortlessly pull off all these 'not so easy to differentiate' emotions and depict them with an amazingly accurate efficiency, then its got to be Kamal Haasan. Kamal Haasan it is !!, in INDIAN - a very commercial movie with a host of mindless scenes parallely running with a complete stunner of a performance in a double role by the male lead. Kamal's facial reactions in beautiful 'pachai kiligal' song sequence are phenomenal. The actor, then aged 42 capturing the mannerisms of a 70 year old man is a treat to watch. The short senapathy segment is an icing on the cake.

(vote for) Indian - for one of the most stunning acting feats in mainstream commercial Indian Cinema.

AND THE WINNER IS... - Any guesses? Hold your breadth... Its Indian. Senapathy and Chandru together form the deadliest of disguises. The corrupt licence officer and the strict freedom fighter simply take your sleep away. Powerful portrayal - redefined.

The Kamals who missed out (were overlooked) - I know its not practical but i would want the national awards committee to recognise Kamal for at least ten other performances of his... But as that would be obviously asking for too much, here is a list of FIVE kamal roles which definitely deserved the silver lotus -

Salangai Oli (1983) - won by kamal himself for moondram pirai -

Pushpak (1986) - won by shashi kapoor for "new delhi times" -

Devar Magan (1992) - won by mohanlal for "bharatham" -

Hey Ram (2000) won by mohanlal again for "vanaprastham"

Anbe sivam (2003) - won by Ajay Devagan for "The legend of Bhagat singh"

1/50 - KAMAL HAASAN AND THE HERO-ACTOR CRISIS

2009-05-31T00:13:00.000-07:00

Rajinikanth, Vijay, Stallone, Schwarzeneggar, and as the long list would go on , are 'heroes'. They repeatedly play characters that have super powers to bash up all the bad men on the earth. These are stars whom the kids and the masses love. No one looks at the actor or even the person in these stars. They only see the 'hero' in them. Watching these superstars perform is like looking at a your favourite WWE wrestler pin down his opponents. Their performances either have too many expressions or there is a complete lack of them. One can't really call it even acting per se. Mindless, but fun - guaranteed.

Nasseruddin Shah, Nagesh, Nana Patekar, Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman , Tom hanks and as the not so big list would go on, are 'actors'. They don't have a following among the kids, masses and the front benches. They are purely a connoisseur's delight. They are performers and every film critique would love to write a tribute to their works These are people who literally live the character that they play and bring out a huge variety of emotions on screen. Watching them perform is like watching an artist paint a beautiful portrait of a character that is in his mind.

Where would you place Kamal Haasan in this classification? Is he a hero who also acts or is he an actor who is also a brand/franchise? The issue is slightly complex and has been primarily responsible for an audience that is often confused with its opinion on Kamal Haasan. Even among his die hard fans there is a confusion. While one set would prefer Mahanadi to Avvai shanmukhi any day, the other would want to see more Dasavatharams and less of Gunas. The reason for all this is that Kamal has done it all. Been everywhere, seen everything.

In fact in1981-82, he acted in a film that fetched him the national award for that year (moondram pirai) and also in another movie which was the biggest commercial blockbuster of that year (sagalakalavallavan). Just that in 1996, the wiser kamal haasan combined both these tasks in one single film. (Indian)

So here is a look at kamal the hero - who has given the masses unlimited entertainment, and kamal the actor who has given my pen a thousand words to write . And also, a fascinating combination of both.

1) KAMAL THE HERO - If you go to a village or a small town and ask people why they love 'kamala' haasan (Many women still refer to him like that), they would tell u stories of his sagalakalavallavan where he looked awesome, danced like a dream , sang, jumped, waved, made fun and finally tricked the wrong man into the climax trap. They will talk to you about guru, simla special, oru kaidhiyin diary, vetrivizha, sathya,vikram, soora samharam and the likes - movies where the hero kamal has done everything that is expected of any other on screen super hero.

2) KAMAL THE ACTOR - This one, as I said, is for the puritans. It is not simply that they call kamal the finest actor in India. They have gems like moondram pirai, saagara sangamam,saagar, nayagan, pushpak, michael madana kamarajan, guna, devar magan, mahanadi, kurudhipunal, heyram, anbesivam, virumandi and many more to support their arguments. In these movies kamal has been thoroughly brilliant with his unmatchable display of a gamut of emotions. Rarely can u see both brilliance and versatility and brilliant versatility in one single actor's performances. Kamal is that rare impersonator, who flawlessly imitates every character that is written for him in the script.

3) KAMAL THE ACTOR, WHILE BEING KAMAL THE HERO - "Commercial classic". Ever heard of this phrase? It is a form of cinema that kamal has continuously indulged in throughout his career. These films have everything that a tamil producer wants (read, comedy,action, sentiment, all in one) and along with these, they have a sensational performance from the male lead. Aboorva sahodrargal, Indian, Chachi 420, Dasavatharam - All fall into this very special category - Some thing no other Indian actor has really managed to achieve.

FIFTY YEARS AND FIFTY ARTICLES

2009-05-29T22:53:00.000-07:00

This August, one of Indian cinema's most celebrated careers is entering its fiftieth year. A career which has found an unimaginable fan following among both the common men and the connoisseurs. A career which regardless of having been through gigantic troughs and crests in its financial life, has constantly generated an uncannily high degree of quality work. A career that has re-defined relentlessness, dedication, innovation and improvisation though out its existence. A career that is a definite benchmark for every human being associated with the film world and also for those outside it. This is the glittering career of Padmashree Kamal Haasan - Legendary actor , film maker, born November 7, 1954, Paramakudi, Madras state.

No mean achievement this. To have ruled over the rational wing of a movie making industry that cares least about logic in its films is an achievement in itself. For almost three decades now, Kamal has been the most visible face of the revolutionary movement in tamil cinema. He has broken norms and rules with almost every film of his. He has made as many technical innovations as possible and has constantly experimented within the commercial constraints of the industry. All this in an undying effort to strive for a good quality output. This august these efforts reach a golden moment. The fiftieth year.

What started with a national award for the best child performance for Kalathoor Kannama ( Aug 12, 1960) will now be fifty years old on August 12th 2009, when kamal's remake of last years bollywood runaway hit 'A Wednesday' releases across the country.

I as one of his biggest fans on earth have decided to pay homage to his talent which has enthralled me beyond all possible limits and has been an absolute treat for my senses. But words are all that I have. So my tribute is nothing but a set of FIFTY exhaustively covered articles on various aspects of kamal's acting, movie making and other wonderfully creative abilities. I have named the series "Fifty years and Fifty articles".

Starting from the observation of minute nuances of his portrayals, i intend to travel through other complex layers of his multi talent. My aim is to comprehensively generate a complete picture which looks back inch by inch at his glorious career. Expect well researched articles on as many aspects of acting-movie making as possible. Expect a film by film, year by year analysis on the abundant skill that is on show. Expect what i promise will be one of the greatest tributes to Kamal Haasan.

Kamal Haasan and Remakes - The HISTORY

2009-05-03T01:24:00.000-07:00

"There is nothing wrong in remaking a good idea. In fact Kamban's Tamil Ramayanam itself was nothing but a very intelligent remake of the original Ramayana." - KAMAL HAASAN.

In an era where people, in an attempt to recreate magic, tend to completely miss the point made by the films they try to remake, one man gets the soul right more often than not. His screenwriting career has had several bouts of both legal and illegal plagiarisms but one thing common about everything he remakes is the intelligence factor. He has an uncanny knack of always coming up with smart adaptations of already tried and tested stories.

With his next film being the remake of last year's bollywood hit ' A Wednesday', here is a look back at the various movies kamal has remade/copied and the various ideas he's intelligently adapted.

1) Kurudhi Punal/Drohkal - as they say, we should always start from the best. This is one rare remake, where the maker of the original came out in public and said the remake and performances in it are better than in mine. Not just Govind Nihlani but also the association which sends Indian movies to the oscars was completely awed at the way this film was shot.

2) Vasool Raja MBBS/ Munnabhai MBBS - "This movie did not take me anywhere. I did it for friendship's sake" is what kamal had to say about vasool raja. I agree. The original was definitely ahead but the remake wasn't a bad one either. It did have its own moments of magic coupled with some very witty humour thanks to the great language that Tamil is.

3) Virumandi/Roshomon-life of david gale - Though brilliantly conceived and executed, this film at its release recieved some criticism from a few quarters which pointed out that the film misses out on its main aim - talking about the journalist interviewing a capital punishment accused. This aspect and only this aspect of the film is actually taken from the Kevin Spacey starrer - Life of David Gale. The screenplay is taken from the Akira Kurosawa classic - roshomon. This can't even be called a copy because the roshomon screenplay is so famous that it is now called "The Roshomon Effect", which is "employed" as a screenwriting technique.

4) Anbe sivam/ Trains planes and automobiles - Well this not even an inspiration. Anbe sivam just takes the 'two people with opposing views travelling together' concept and beautifully mixes it with its own emphasis on love,god, communism, humor,charity, art and what not...

5) Thenali/ What About Bob - The entire plot is lifted in from the Bill Murray starrer but is credited to Crazy mohan. A few scenes especially the interview sequence is completely taken. But here again, kamal improvises with some spectacular original acting like in the long "ellam siva bayam" dialogue where he makes us laugh first and then makes us weep. Only a few actors can do that through a single dialogue. Kamal is one of them.

6) Avvai Shanmukhi/ Mrs Doubtfire-Toutsie - Though the plot is a straight lift from the Robbin Williams comedy- Mrs. Doubtfire, the original inspiration for this role is from one of Kamal's favourite actors' movies - Dustin Hoffman's Toutsie. Kamal delivers an unforgettable performance as the super maami in this complete rib tickler. Crazy is at his best too.

7) Sathi Leelavathi / She Devil - Not exactly a copy or even an inspiration but both films deal with a very common issue. The stress in sathi leelavathi however is intelligent humor unlike the completely slapstick she devil. And the coimbatore accent from Kamal completely steals the show.

8) Devar Magan / The Godfather - Intelligent script writing is at its peak. To take the "son rises" soul of the Godfather and effortlessly insert it into a magnificent rural setting is no mean task and kamal the writer breezes through it. Trivia - It was a bet between two friends on who will remake the godfather first. Mani won the bet, but Kamal made the better remake.

9) Sathya/ Arjun - Suresh Krishna's brutal potrayal of the angry young unemployed is actually a scene by scene take from a sunny deol starrer. The romance track in sathya however was much more watchable thanks to some exceptional performances from Kamal and the super cute Amla.

10) Enakul Oruvan / Karz - The mutual admiration between Kamal and Rishi Kapoor is obvious. Both being masters of romance in their own right. Kamal liked Rishi's karz and decided to star in its tamil remake yeilding some decent results at the box office.

11) RaajaParvai / Butterflies are free-Graduate - The Hoffman fan in kamal rises to the fore again. This time dedicating an entire climax to him through his first screenplay- Raajaparvai. But the rest of the story is taken from this classic called "Butterflies are free" - A neat attempt at remaking.

12) Magalir Mattum / Nine to Five - An unfortunate brutal rip off credit to Kamal's Pen. I am not really sure about what was in his mind at this point of time. Though he tried his best to make the movie as Indian as possible

Some other mild inspirations - Nammavar (To sir, with love), Panchathantiram (Things gone wrong), Naladamayanti (Dont remember the movie's name) have mild tinges of inspirations.

Movies remade from kamal's - Well there are plenty of them. A very high number. Many of Anil Kapoor's works are taken from Kamal movies like Virasat (Devar Magan) , Eshwar (swathi muthyam), Etc. Etc. An article on this is coming up soon.

So lets hope film makers like Jeyam Raja take the cue from Kamal Haasan and make some intelligent adaptations instead of indulging in costume remaking.

Happy filmmaking. Happy remaking.

this beautiful painting of heyram that i came across -

2009-04-27T11:06:00.000-07:00

The God Returns - This time He is a common Man :)

2009-04-09T04:24:00.001-07:00

the 20 second promo of kamal haasan's version of a wednesday. Named unnai pol oruvan, this film stars 2 stars who are arguably India's best actors ever - kamal haasan and mohan lal. Shruti haasan is doing the bgm and the shooting is in full flow at hyderabad.

Cant wait for the release.

The Three most Self Referential kamal haasan songs

2009-02-17T00:08:00.000-08:00

SELF REFERENCE is normally associated with Mass Masala Heroes (read as male whores) of tamil cinema. But the pillar of commercial - art cinema Kamal Haasan has some very intelligent songs written exclusively for his image and ability as an artist/film technician. Some deal with his milti-talented nature, while some talk about how he can experiment and still succeed. Some also talk about his hardwork and where it is eventually going to take him. Here is a look at three such self-referential kamal songs.

They are...
1.Ilamai Idho Idho ( Sagalakalavallavan) [ the movie itself seems self referential now]

2. Kalakka Povadhu yaar? ( Vasool Raja MBBS)

3. Ullaga Nayagane ( Dasavatharam)

Ilamai Idho Idho

iLamai idhO idhO inimai idhO idhO

kAlEggi teenage peNgaL ellOrkkum enn meedhu kaNgaL ( A hint at the then prevelant female craze for kamal)

iLamai idhO idhO inimai idhO idhO

vaalibaththil manmadhan leelaigaLil mannavan

raathiriyil chandiran..rasigaigaLin indhiran

naan aadum aattam paarungaL nigarEadhu kooRungaL

naan paadum paattaik kEazhungaL kaiththaaLam pOdungaL

oor pOtRavE pEar vaanguvEan naan thaan sagalakala vallavan....

.............iLamai idhO idhO................

hindiyilum paaduvEn la..la..lala..vetRi nadai pOduvEn la..la..lala

Ek thujE kEliyE...la ..la..lala ... eANdi nee paathiyE la..la..lala (kamal's ek duje ke liye was a mega blockbuster in bollywood)

enakkaga eAkkam ennamma kaLaththoorin kaNNamma (kalathootin kannama was his first film)

unakkaaga vaazhum maaman thaan kalyaaNa raaman thaan (Kalyana raman was a landmark comedy film of kamal where he played a simple buck toothed villager and also his intelligent twin)

naaL thOrumthaan aaL maaRuvEn naan thaan sagalakala vallavan..

...............iLamai idhO idhO................

kambeduthu aaduvEn la..la..lala.. kaththi chaNdai pOduvEn la..la..lala..

kuthuvathil sooran naan la..la..lala.. kusthigaLil veeran naan la..la..lala..

enani yaarum Aithaal aagAdhu adhu thaanE koodaathu

ennai vella yaarum kidaiyaadhu edhirnintRa aaLEdhu

yaar kaadhilum poo sutRuvEn naan thaan sagalakala vallavan

( Making a point that as early as 1982-83 kamal had established a name in both art and commercial cinema.. what with him doing both this film and moondram pirai in the same year!! - sagalakala vallavan indeed)

...............iLamai idhO idhO....................

Kalakka Povadhu yaaru(vasool raja)

Kalaka Povadhu Yaru? (Nee Dhaan)

Nilaika Povadhu Yaaaru? (Nee Dhaan)

Varudhi Uzhaipaavan Yaaru? (Nee Dhaan)

Vayasai Tholaithavan Yaaru? (Nee Dhaan)

Unakku Dhaane Kodukka Vendum

Doctor Pattam ? (Docter Vaagha)

(Raja Vasool Raja M.B.B.S) - 2 (Obvious references of how he looks handsome even at 50 plus  and how hard a worker he is)


Ezhuvadhenraal Ru Malai Pol Ezhuven

Nanbargal Nalam Kaana, Vizhuvadhu Pol Konjam Vizhven

Enadhu Edhirigal Sugam Kaana

Ullathil Kaayangal Undu, Adai Naan Maraikiren

Ooruku Aanandham Kodukka Veliye Sirikiren

(Thuyarathai Erithu, Uyarathai Valarthu) - 2

Vaazhven Nalam Kaanben, ( Kalakapovathu ) (A super-dig at people who pray for every film of his to be a flop,  at people who use all political influences to stall the shooting of his films  and at people who throw parties if and when his films flop - also known as kalai nari soothanu)

Vazhigalil Nooru Thadai Irundhaal Daan, Vaazhkai Rusiyagum

Medugal Kadakum Nadhiyinil Daane, Minsaaram Undagum

Kaambinil Pasumbaal Karandal, Athu Daan Saadanai Kombilum Naan Konjam Karapen, Athu Daan Saadanai ( Brilliant - a declaration as the undisputed king of
mass plus class-the only man who can do both brilliant experimental cinema and also give continuous blockbusters)

(Samuthiram Peridha? Then Luli Peridha?) - 2  (samudhiram here refers to the sea of mass actors)

Then Daan , Athu Naan Daan, (Kalakapovathu) ( The honey ofcourse is ONe and ONly kamal)


Ullaganayagane
THIS SONG IS DIRECT AND OBVIOUS - SELF EXPLANATORY

Come Dance With Me Before You Go
Come Dance With Me Before You Go

Ulagam Enghilum Unnai Minjida Yaaru
Unnai Pettradu Perumey Konludhu Naadu
Ulagam Enghilum Unnai Minjida Yaaru
Unnai Pettradu Perumey Konludhu Naadu

Ulaga Nayagane Ulaga Nayagane
Kannangal Kandu Viyakum
Enni Ainavum Unnai Alaikum
Ulagam Enghilum Unnai Minjida Yaaru
Unnai Pettradu Perumey Konludhu Naadu
Ulaga Nayagane Ulaga Nayagane
Kannangal Kandu Viyakum
Enni Ainavum Unnai Alaikum

Come Dance With Me Before You Go
Come Dance With Me Before You Go

Nee Perum Kalaignan Niranthada Illagnan
Rasana Migundham Ragasiya Kavignan
Nee Perum Kalaignan Nirantha Illagnan
Rasana Migundham Ragasiya Kavignan

Oru Ooyir Kondru Oolaghatil Indru
Ayiram Piravi Kondai Un Vaazhvil
Aayiram Pirigal Kandai
Sothanai Unnai Sooldugindralum
Sothanai Muyarchi Solvuvathilai
Ayunthu Mudhal Nee Azhivanthalum
Oxygen Kurayavil Sonnal Yen Oscarum Dhooramilai

Ulagam Enghilum Unnai Minjida Yaaru
Unnai Pettradu Perumey Konludhu Naadu
Ulaga Nayagane Ulaga Nayagane
Kannangal Kandu Viyakum
Enni Ainavum We’ll Call You Back

Come Dance With Me
Come Dance With Me Before You Go

Udhal Konda Manithan Olavatharam
Uzhattin Kalakil Nooru Avatharam
Muhangalai Oorithu Manangalai Padithu
Peru Konde Arivu Kondan Vinyani Freud’eyum Poorinthu Kondan
Vizhigalukule Virichangal Thoongum
Un Nolvalukule Ulagangal Thoongum
Nerupinil Kidanthu Nedandavar Siranthu
Theeyanum Nizhai Kadanthai Eppothu Niravanam Aghi Vittai

Ulagam Enghilum Unnai Minjida Yaaru
Unnai Pettradu Perumey Konludhu Naadu
Ulaga Nayagane Ulaga Nayagane
Kannangal Kandu Viyakum
Enni Ainavum Unnai Alaikum
Ulaga Nayagane Ulaga Nayagane
Ulaga Nayagane Ulaga Nayagane

Come Dance With Me Before You Go

...................."KISS.KAMAL.KISS"...............

2008-12-27T00:50:00.000-08:00

.Kamal haasanin thirai muthangal

FOREWORD(by Sarathy Singaravelan)

The inspirations for this post are the hundred odd debates that WE(Nishanth , Badri and I) have had with the fans of Superstar Rajinikanth (who, if u did not know is an actor who had stunned the tamil audience way back in the late seventies and early eighties with some sparkling performances and has been stunning them again for 15 continuous years from 1993 to 2008 by arachifying the already arachified maavu beyond all possible limits). What happens in these debates is that Rajini fans completely run out of arguments. ie. Neither are they able to prove that rajini is a better actor (No, Not even Richard Dawkins can do that) and nor do they manage to prove that Rajini is bigger at box office (CHECK THIS and THIS).

SO, ultimately the miserably pathetic losers to the core come down to one point - which states that Kamal is fit only for kissing his heroines on screen and that his personal life is not what anyone will like to model theirs on , unlike rajinikanth ( unlike rajinikanth? :Otha) .

This Post by Krish King Nishanth not only justifies the use of sex scenes in Kamal's films but also makes the readers (if any) realise that his personal life is probably the most mature one after ramana maharishi's.

Here we go.

Sarathy Singaravelan.

MATTER

issue No. 1 :- sex and kissing scenes in kamal films :- A husband returns after a long time from a long tour and meets his wife of a love marriage. The director wants to tell the viewers what happens next .What the fuck do you expect him to do? Show the couple coming close and then show a couple of flower pots shaking like mad, covering their faces? If you can't see two grown up human beings kiss then what kind of a grown up man are you? This scene was a very romantic scene from Heyram. There are so many more such scenes where Kamal Haasan gets realistic with romance - The ones in kurudhi punal , Nammavar and Devar magan where he does it all to gauthami , the one with Sukanya in Mahanadi - the kiss from a man in pain - shown superbly through his face. The smooch before the suicide attempt in punnagai mannan - (which i believe was not in the script and was done impromptu - and i am sure the teenage girls of 1985 would have been more than jealous of Rekha - the lucky one.). When I first saw kamal kiss and make out with Abirami in virumandi I wasn't moved but by the end of the film, when U know that Abirami was raped and that kamal was accused of it, then U cant help but feel bad. That is where those scenes help. There are a number of people who here in India in front of their family call Kamal a manner less actor. These are the same people who without the knowledge of their family are the first to assemble in a theatre screening a soft-porn film. Some of them are even porn-actors. Unscrupulousness and hypocrisy at its best.

issue No. 2 :- Kamal Haasan's personal life :- They say he has an affair with every other co-star of his. Firstly he doesn't, and even if he does, One should appreciate the fact that he is able to attract women more than anybody else. Just because your favourite star is not really capable of all that, it doesn't mean you should go round spreading rumours that kamal sleeps with his heroines, and then be proud of saying it out.

In fact Kamal has this amazing view on marriage. He says " I DON'T believe in the institution of marriage. If I marry somebody, it is only because the lady wants a position in the ultra-conservative society of ours". That is the way to go. Having a divorce, or a couple of them is not stupid. It is the best way of being practical. It is in a million ways better than hanging out with people who you are not happy hanging out with.

issue No.3 :- Atheism :- Kamal explains this in the simplest of words. Q)kamal - why are you an atheist? Ans) Because I find no logical reason to believe in GOD. Can it get simpler? Theists say that people who don't believe in god hurt the religious beliefs of theirs. Hardly to they realise that by believing in God, they are hurting the rational feelings of people like Kamal Haasan and Krish King Nishanth.

issue No.4 :- Rajini has a past, 100 times more miserable:- Kamal did not fall in love with the lady who had evoked keen interest in MGR. Kamal did not marry that lady. Kamal did not get both physically and mentally trashed by MGR and his goons. Kamal did not go into depression way back in early eighties. Kamal did not consider quitting films. Kamal was not pepped on by kamal to rejoin. Kamal did not promise his fans that he will join politics and then did not disappoint them with such dialogues in every film of his. Kamal did not talk rubbish in the hogenakkal protest and finally kamal did not deliver a bastardy apology just to get his film released in Bangalore.

Kiss Kamal. Kiss.

without wax

Krish King Nishanth

CONCLUDING WITH KAMAL - THE BEST Kamal CLIMAX SCENES

2008-12-16T04:46:00.000-08:00

kurudhi punal :- THAT coarse yet high pitched voice, that blood painted face, that broken tooth, those eyes and he goes SHOOT ME MY MAN, SHOOT ME, MY MAN - MY BOY , SHOOT ME - AND THATS A BLOODY ORDER - as a viewer u feel, yes, this is the ultimatum, any actor can't thrill u more than this, and u surrender completely to adinarayanan, ips- also known as kamal god haasan.

pushpala vimanam:- Singeetham Srinivasa rao is at his allegoric best. The climax is definitely the most telling scene in the movie. The week of unexpected oppulence comes to a calm and disturbing yet educative end and there we have our hero kamal haasan trying to explain all this just with his eyes, for he is not even allowed to speak a word. Matched graciously by a super cute amala, this scene is a masterpiece in itself.

Devar Magan:- A film and a role, which i always rate above nayagan, and feel should have definitely fetched kamal the silver lotus award - end with kamal making us all cry, holding the arivaal in his hand and emoting those lines of regret and desperation at having been turned into a murderer. Only one man can write such lines and act them out too... kamal god haasan.

Michael Madana Kamarajan:-Chaos, comedy, anxiety, action - It doesnt get bigger and better than this.In what I consider as kamal's best screenplay till date,the whole movie rushes into the wooden house on top of the hillock as if to say that things are now so chaotic that the whole narrative is now going to fall off from that building. Add to this remarkable setting, we have crazy mohan and ilayaraja working their brains out to give the best dialogues and the best music respectively.

Moondram Pirai:- The climax is what actually is sridevi's moondram pirai - her third birth. A birth which leaves Kamal devastated, in agony, in irreparable pain, almost in a state in which he had first found sridevi. And who else but kamal to enact this scene. The key is in the eyes. I am dead sure no other actor in the world can give that look of desperation as perfectly as kamal does. His eyes talk more than anything else, Add to it Add to it, a bruised body, and a struggle to make the girl he saved remember him, Its like a 'beautifully sad' painting.

Aboorva Sahodrargal:- JUST THREE PAIRS OF EYES do all the acting and talking. Srividyas, kamal's and nagesh's.The first shows satisfaction and is happy that her husband will now rest in peace.The second shows revenge and feels taller than ever.The third shows both fear and regret.There is one more thing that talks - raja's amazingly awesome bgm

THERE ARE MANY MORE which deserve entry into this list but the author is too tired to write about them :- notable inclusions being 16 vayadhinile, Hey ram, nayagan, etc etc....

PUNK IT LIKE HAASAN - [on how I could never get the devar magan 'punk' flowing :(..]

2008-10-24T21:49:00.000-07:00

Every young teenaged college going male thinks about growing long hair atleast once. And if the same young male also goes back to his home, discs in a 5.1 "devar magan" dvd on his drive , watches SHAKTI DEVAR get down from the train , describing his "punk" hairdo to his elder brother, THE urge is amplified to uncontrollable levels.

Krish king Nishanth met the same fate on a lazy dry sunday afternoon in the summer of 2005. AND he decided to do it. He decided to PUNK IT LIKE HAASAN.

here is the video that i am talking about.. take a peek... AND READ ON.......................................................................SCROLL DOWN

ATTEMPT 1. STEP 1. - CANTHRETIN OIL

Krish king realized that to experiment with hairstyles, one had to posses abundant hair and the only way to do it in a short span was the use of canthretin oil... I DUNNO IF THATS THE F'KIN SPELLING THOUGH...

ATTEMPT 1. STEP 2. - ITS ALL WRONG

THE punk was ready, only its direction was not. Krish king found more hair growing on the front side of his head and almost nothing on the other side-The leeward side-the rain shadow region. Krish king did not mind cutting his hair, but there was no point when there wasnt corresponding growth where it actually was required... Krish king decided to chuck the attempt

ATTEMPT 2. STEP 1. - oil + shampoo+etc etc

Villains are not born, they are made. AMMA refused to let me into the house on september 1 2006, if I did not cut my hair. The reason was DISHA- my niece (who is currently 2 years old) was a newborn then and people did not want her to get shocked after seeing this face of her mama

END OF ALL REAL ATTEMPTS

READ ON...

DESPERATE POSE 1

Krish king never gives up. The 1.3 mega pixel camera of his L7i was functional back then in the winter of 2006( this loser called Vijesh jayaraman broke it recently) and Krish king made full use of it to take "side-view" pics, hoping for the punk to generate itself...

READ ON...

ARE U DRUGGED PIC

Krish king can be seen here sitting on the base of the lamp post in "pearl lawns". Next to him is AAdith, who is a boy, and who managed to get the punk later in 2007, in as many as 10 less attempts than Krish king himself

READ ON...

DESPERATE POSE 2

Its human nature to want to look good and in his 11th attempt at growing the devar magan hairstyle, Krish king ended up looking like this. What aadith says is like a goat - born eunuch.

READ ON...

BETTER USE. VALUE ADDITION. WHATEVER

I (Krish king) Knew that punk wasnt coming, so I decided to use the long hair for better applications. One of them being the cockarakoo hairstyle designed to scare junior cricketers in a league match of the ruby cup. late in 2007.

READ ON...

FCUK OFF SHAKTI DEVAR- its AADI NARAYNAN NOW

Kuruthi punal is remastered. Aadith calls it kundi-punal.

Krish king's mind goes back to the dumb-charades he played with his dad's family back in 1997, when he was to enact "kurudhi punal" AND, the tamil illiterate mistook punal for poonal -the holy thread and won the laughing stock award...

READ ON...

ONE LAST ATTEMPT

How is it? i know its not as good as kamal haasan but its anyday better than rajinikanth/ :P

the 1000 faces of kamal god haasan

2008-10-13T11:05:00.000-07:00

TOP TEN SONGS SUNG BY KAMAL "HI PITCH" HAASAN

2008-10-13T10:34:00.001-07:00

1.pottu vaitha kadhal thittam - SINGARAVELAN

2.neruppu vayinil orama yeriyum - PUDHUPETTAI

3.raja kaiya vecha wronga ponadhilla -
ABOORVA SAHODRARGAL

4. ram ram, hey hey hey ram ram -
HEY RAM

5.yaar yaar sivam -
ANBE SIVAM

6. kanmani anboda kadhalan -
GUNA

7.vikram vikram, naan vetri .. -
VIKRAM

8. stranded on the streets -
NALA DAMAYANTHI

9.muthe muhtama, mutham onnu -
ULLASAM

10. ninnaivo oru paravai -
SIVAPPU ROJAKKAL

KAMAL HAASAN SPEAKS TO GANDHI

2008-10-02T03:39:00.001-07:00

Today is october the second and it is apt that we talk about HEY RAM - an extremely pro-gandhi movie.

The movie was never allowed to release properly across the country thanks to politicians (otha) who built it up to be an anti-gandhi film.. had they watched the movie just once, they would have known that Hey Ram will make any gandhian proud.

WHY? Because Hey Ram is the story of a man who is on a mission to kill Gandhi and ends up meeting the mahatma ( in the video) and then changes his mind. What more praise can Gandhi get than the fact that he made his prospective assassin change his mind on meeting him without even knowing that the man was planning to kill him. Kamal then goes on to explore the irony that unfortunately there was another RAM (kamal's character is named saket RAM and it was NATHUR RAM GHOTSE who killed Gandhi) who wanted to kill gandhi but did not meet him.

This scene u are watching is special.Naseerudinshah plays Gandhi to perfection and the dialogues, by kamal again are brilliant...

one of them goes like this...

mahatma to saket :- "DO U REALLY THINK I AM A MAHATMA??"

saket:- "U SHALL DENY ME IF I SAY SO SIR.. SO I SHALL DENY U A DENIAL"

kamal + ilayaraja bgm = pure heaven (an analysis)

2008-09-30T00:19:00.001-07:00

ask any ilayaraja die hard fan what he/she considers, ilayarajas 10 best background scores, and dont be surprised when u find out that atleast 8 out these 10 films star kamal haasan and/or are wriiten/produced by him.

The reason for kamal + ilayaraja being the best ever combination indian cinema has ever seen is simple. Kamal himself is a student of music. HE learnt carnatic music under Balamuralikrishna, the legendary carnatic musician. So kamal has a very keen sense of music and hence is able to pour his inputs to ilayaraja and is alsoable to judge which piece suits which scene because of his unparalled knowledge of both cinema and music.

HERE is A LIST OF SOME UNFORGETTABLE ILAYARAJA BGMS IN A KAMAL FILM

1. DEVAR MAGAN - vaanam thottu ponal (this is my personal favourite. it blends so well with the calm-after-the-storm-climax of the movie and kamals mindblowing performance... truly i dont think any other musician can compose such a piece of music

2.Mahanadi- the violin bit when kamal kisses suganya... this and ilayarajas guitar in ilayanila are the two major instances when u realise why he far far better than AR RAHMAN in the use of individual intstruments.

3.GUNA- partha vizhi partha padi... by far yesudas's best rendition till date... the song has a huge effect on the mind of the listener and the scene is equally stunningly shot.

4.Hey ram:- isayil tongudhu amma... just listening to song, we realise that its an alcohol fest thats being potrayed. IT is an extremely addictive song sung by hindustani singer Ajoy chakrabarthy. It is very difficult to compose and involves very complex ragam and talams

5.punnagai mannan - the violin running in the background when kamal and revathi dance.. believe me, 85% of my classmates still have it as their ringtone,,

6. mmkr:- the theme for kameshwaran... utterly impossible for anyone else to compose.. it is truly a masterpiece, the instruments used and the effect they create, the image they draw- beyond explanation- really

7.Rajaparvai- the finale- violin concert- in two simple words, its an AURAL TREAT

8.Vikram - the video u are watching now has the best of the best action BGMs and would rate higher than most BOND background scores.

9.saagara sangamam... relevant/point-making bgm at its best, raja brings out classical songs which literally reflect the situation in progress a real CLASS ACT

10.moondram pirai.. ilayarajas score is often not considered the highlight of this movie because there was a bigger technical brilliance of balu mahendras photography on display, but ilayaraja does steal the scene on some occations, especially the poongatru song,,,its like eating "DEATH BY CHOCOLATES" when u listen to this song , eyes closed, and its like eating "3 DEATHS BY CHOCOLATES" when u also look at its picturisation..

(OFF TOPIC) THEISTS ARE ANTS??

2008-09-28T23:17:00.000-07:00

UNLIKE the self explanatory symbolisms and allegories that you will find in a K Balachander film, the ones in Kamal haasan's are not obvious by any standards. Hey ram is a case in point. HIS latest mass blockbuster dasavatharam too has its own share of symbolims and scene signatures, most of them, dealing with theists,theism, and how stupid they are.

The very first intro of the 12th century scenario is captured from a birds eye point of view. The camera, placed at the top of the tall temple descends on the vaishnavites and shaivaites standing near the shore. The first time we look at these religious people fighting for religion, we can only see ants (or something equally inconsequential). Thats exactly the point Haasan (ghost director/supervising director of the movie) is trying to make here. THEISTS ARE ANTS, he says. He repeats this in the chidambaran bhajan scene. The same camera, capturing similar religious people reciting what the camera thinks are pointless verses,from the same birds eye view.
NOT just that, the HERO of the movie is an atheist. And every Brahmin is deliberately either dumb or irritating or both. Asin's character, that of a staunch 21st century Brahmin is made to do things as inhumane as asking for a change-dress because the blood of a dying muslim made a mark on her chudidar.

This was just one instance of an atheist trying to tell the world what he feels about his theist counterparts. There have been similar accusations from the other side as well. Most theists argue that atheists are losers and take up atheism only for the sake of comfort.

They ask us that if one can't prove GOD exists then neither can one prove that IT doesn't. The only simple counter I can think of is that if one starts out trying to prove that every unknown thing actually exists, then God may not be the only thing that we'll find out. We will also come across ispasito, bostanakoodi, thevidikundi , bususkulalalala and so much of odd stuff like that.

Some one goes on to say, "a blind man can't see colours, but colours do exist" . BUT colours don't affect any blind person in any given way, just like how GOD doesn't affect our lives in any given way

ABIRAMI abirami abiraaami

2008-09-24T05:45:00.001-07:00

there was a time, when i wasn't even a kamal fan... i was a govinda fan and the only kamal movie i had seen was mmkr ( about a 100 times though)... then SUN TV came along and every actor/technician used to talk about his/her favourite cine scenes in a program called "engalukku pidithadu " or something to that effect... and most of them, (all of them) had this one scene in mind... so, i used to watch it every week on suntv and go round my bed shouting abirami abirami till my head started aching.. i still wasnt a kamal fan, i was a guna fan, but this definitely will go down in the history as the first thing which led krish king nishanth sub-consciously into kamalism... abirami abirami

GUT-WRENCHING, thats the word

2008-09-22T21:45:00.001-07:00

A scene thats bound to cause emotional anguish to anyone who watches it.. IN this film,(mahanadi-1994) the character played by kamal is in jail and his daughter is sold off to a prostitute centre... he finds her and brings her back home. She has a habit of blaberring in sleep and this time she asks men not to force her, and says she is not a machine... kamal the dad is horrified and his reaction in this scene is an acting masterpiece... DONT MISS, A PURE MUST WATCH

aandavars interview in inbox 1305... some images

2008-08-22T07:48:00.000-07:00

DASAVATHARAM REVIEW, REACTIONS AND MORE

2008-06-13T04:02:00.000-07:00

13TH JUNE FRIDAY 2PM

There are two ways in which one could and should look at dasavatharam. One - as a movie and Two- as the making of a movie. The first way will make u amazed and the second will leave u spellbound.

After "n" attempts at delivering good cinema, Kamal Haasan - the screenwriter - tires to present a complex plot not as it is but coated in sugar for all audience to enjoy.In this movie he discusses and makes passing references to a wide range of concepts. From religion to biowar to sand thrift to the butterfly effect and chaos theory, Dasavatharam has it all in a single three and half hour bout of technical brilliance.

The first twenty minutes belong to ravi k verman the cameraman. He makes us turn and bend and raise to the tune of his camera. Especially the very first frame where we travel from the sea to the city.Kamal as nambi is as awesome as ever.Others are just okay ..or rather are made to look okay by kamal's histrionics.

Enter govind ramaswamy- the main protagonist. The scenes at his office and his friends' place are typical "calm before the storm" type of scenes... ie. some slow sequences before the chase begins.
After these basic plot builders, we are treated to a thrilling and at the same time comic ride along with 8 ohter kamals, each having his own looks and his own slang. All the action takes place in a span of just three days.

Like most kamal screenplays, this too builds up into one last ditch where all the action takes place and over here it is the tsunami which apart from death brings along with it tonnes and tonnes of NACL , very necessary to avoid the bio-weapon (which everyone is in search of) destroy the whole country

Now the most negative thing about the movie is character detail and character necessity of the ten kamals. Atleast 3 out of the ten characters are forcibly fed into a screenplay whose mouth is already full.

As a dialogue writer kamal has reached new highs, two instances prove it... one when vaiyyapuri says "neenga enna paatiya?" and one when kamal himself says "I am not saying that got doesnt exist , i am only saying that it would have been better if he existed "

THE REACTIONS AND B.O.FUTURE
Mixed is the word that can best describe the public reaction.Some were astonished and stunned by what hit them and others were dissapointed. Some couldn't make head or tail of the plot. Rajinimaniacs (read motherfuckers) as usual, targetted the wrong areas... instead of saying the roles weren't great they said the plot was bad, which is ridiculous.

The movie will definitely be a superhit and recover all costs cos the whole world wants to know what the ten roles are. Apart from that there is a lot in the movie both for the mass(front benchers) and the class( the intelligentia). The mass will awe at the technical wizardry and the class will break its head thinking just how the movie was shot.

I personally dont care if its a hit or not, neither does kamal. Marmayogi is the next halt for good cinema lovers

Rangaraja Nambi avatarates

2008-05-27T04:18:00.001-07:00

this video posted by a telugu kamal fanatic gives us a peek into "RANGARAJA NAMBI" - one of the ten characters designed and executed by kamal haasan himself.

more about the lyrics of the song:- it mentions the names of kamal's parents srinivasan and rajalakshmi. Lines like 8 aksharam vanangum nenjam 5 aksharam paarkadhu are references to narayan(8 letters) and shiva (5 letters)

From what we can see, rangaraja nambi is a staunch vaishnavite who opposes forced conversion to shaivism and is punished by the shaivaite king (played by napoleon). Rngarajan is tied to a vishnu idol and thrown into the sea.

Lookin' at the sets and the recreation of the centuries old town, I now understand why OSCAR ravichandran constantly refers to dasavartharam as "world cinema" and not a mere tamil movie

A poem on the alwarpet almighty

2008-05-11T01:18:00.000-07:00

Olivier Eastwood Chaplin all
could direct act and write
but none of them and no one else
can touch your dancing might

Hoffman Hanks Pacino Niro
rout comedy and tragedy
but with 240 films of as many kinds
don't you have ur answers ready?

Now lets come to a god called brando
he obviously was ur guru
but with years of training and orchestra
would he have sung as well as you do?

you are not a human being
you are more of a definition
To master everything that can ever be
is also known as Kamal Haasan.

And here we have filtered fools
who compare you with a piece of shit
dumb-fucked fans eat his pee
mix with rice and eat his shit.

by
krish king nishanth.

And finally the magmum opus. dasavatharam (2008). hollywood finished. whats next?

2008-05-07T07:08:00.001-07:00

kamal haasan in an interview says dasavatharam is his most interesting screenplay yet. this, in other words means dasavatharam is the best movie world cinema will ever see.

the story is Dan Brownish in nature and has all twists and turns to make it an international blockbuster.

to most cinema goers, this movie is all about kamal's 10 characters. to me, its about his story and screenplay.

so finally, god masters hollywood as well. whats next?

MARMAYOGI

roshsomon re-mastered (virumaandi 2004)

2008-05-07T06:59:00.001-07:00

kamal haasan's third directorial venture, an adaptation of the roshomon screenplay which is all about the inconsistent narrator.

a very intelligent movie with great editing. the direction too is top class, with kamal himself at the helm. the kamal-ilayaraja combo rocks as usual.

shreya goshal ( the new lata mangeshkar) has sung the songs in this movie

kamal the cop. wah! what body language - VETTAIYAADU VILAYAADU (2006)

2008-05-07T06:49:00.001-07:00

Body language doesn't get better than this... a role that inspired the 4th installment of the worlds best action movie series - die hard.

vettaiyaadu is a gautham menon film and the casting couldn't have been more apt. the villains (inspired by real life villains leop and leopard) are a treat to watch.

kamal returns to the mass genre in this highly stylised cop movie which set the box office on fire.

another great adaptation - anbe sivam (2003)

2008-05-07T06:39:00.001-07:00

kamal to rajini " dude, listen, when u remake or adapt a movie you don't spoil it like u did in all the 41 of ur remakes till now, u make a better version. please watch anbe sivam"

adapted from trains planes and automobiles ( or something like that), this movie has multiple themes and deals with atheism, communism, and a lot more. a very well made film supposedly ghost directed by haasan.

the national award for best acting that year was given to vikram for pithamagan, but i feel it should have gone to kamal haasan for the physical changes he made to his body and the way he acted it out. the screenplay by kamal again, totally rocked

pure comedies - panchathantiram and pks ( 2001-02)

2008-05-07T06:28:00.001-07:00

nowadays its very rare to find pure comedies in tamil cinema. if at all one feels like watching a good comedy one has to get the dvd of panchathantiram and pammal k sambamdham, both god level comedies with no extra masala.

Aalavandhaan (2001) - 7 GENRES IN ONE MOVIE! BELIEVE IT?

2008-05-07T06:12:00.001-07:00

SEX COMEDY

ARMY DRAMA

INSIDE A PSYCHO'S BRAIN

CHILD ABUSE AND STEP MOM SAGA

REVENGE DRAMA

KOREAN STYLE ACTION FILM and...

THE STORY OF SEPERATED TWINS

Kamal god haasan tries it all in this pure classic intended to be a cult movie but unfortunately falling flat on its back as far as collections are concerned

but kamal purists consider it as one his best attempts. especially the nandu role.

even though the movie flopped, the song kadavul paadhi became a rage

thenali(2000) - the other end of one more versatile sandwitch

2008-05-07T06:01:00.001-07:00

in 1990-91-92 kamal haasan made mmkr-guna-singravelan - a very serious tragedy in between two great comedies.

he does it again with kadala kadala - heyram - thenali.

ask any actor in the world, its the toughest thing to act in three such movies consecutively.

thenali is one of the earliest projects of the dasa actor- director combo of kamal haasan and k.s.ravikumar.

it is a laugh a minute rib-tickler and has good performances by kamal, jeyram, delhi ganesh etc...

hey ram (2000) - technically india's best film yet

2008-05-07T05:44:00.001-07:00

SOME kamal fans have written books on heyram.I need to start a new blog called "heyram" if at all i've to talk about the movie.

its an all in all kamal effort, from directing to screenwriting to acting to dialogues to songs and coreography and a lot more.

According to kamal its his most satisfying effort till date, however he feels sad that the movie wasn't accepted by the audience.

the problem with the movie was that it was multilingual and most b and c centre people cud not understand the deep layered themes of the movie.apart from that some filtered fools spread false rumors that the movie is anti-gandhi.

but the fact is the movie is more pro-gandhier than even lage raho munnabhai or Gandhi- the movie itself. story of a man who wants to kill gandhi but changes his mind on meeting him.

god used "the page-o-minute" technique for the screenplay.

Avvai shanmukhi (1997)- doughtfire redefined

2008-05-06T10:47:00.001-07:00

well, heres the perfect example of difference between inspiration and remake.

remakes are what rajinikanth shamelessly does from amitabh bachan movies. inspiration is what kamal has done here.

taking the basic concept from robin williams' mrs.doubtfire, kamal gives it a totally new flavour with exceptional comedy sequences.

a wonderfull feel good screenplay by kamal god haasan

INDIAN (1996) And the fourth ( much delayed) national award

2008-05-06T10:36:00.001-07:00

I rate indian as Shankar's best and most powerful film till date. The characterization and A.R.RAHMAN'S bgm standout.

kamal haasan playing a double role got the national award for the fourth time (highest by any actor). I feel he definitely deserved it earlier for devar magan and some more of his movies. anyways, this startling performance definitely deserved one.

senthil- goundamani set the house on fire one more time with this brilliant entertainer

this is how u remake !! - kurudhi punal (1995)

2008-05-06T10:28:00.001-07:00

Its very rare that the scriptwriter of an original movie comes out on the open and says "the remake is better than my version"

Govind nihalani spoke exactly those words about this kamal starrer. the movie, an intense action filled cop story had no songs in it.

gauthami, kamals soulmate, has rendered a brilliant performance,

p.c.sriram directed the movie

the coimbatore slang owned !!! - sathi leelavathi (1995)

2008-05-06T10:21:00.001-07:00

If u read through the earlier posts of this video blog, u will find that there is a lot of focus on kamal's mastery of all kinds of dialogue delivery. here, god haasan masters the coimbatore slang and speaks it to utter perfection.

i would rate sathi leelavathi as kamal's third best comedy after mmkr and singaravelan. that in itself means a lot.

kovai sarala had pulled off a very fine performance in this movie

nammavar(1994). a well made teacher-student drama

2008-05-06T10:11:00.001-07:00

this movie released after kamal had produced and written the highly successful comedy "magalir mattum". again his versatality stands out.

this scene (on the video) is a classic. nagesh is at the peak of his acting skills with kamal playing a supportive role.

requiem for a dream --Learn from kamal.--This is what we call "tragedy". - mahanadhi( 1994)

2008-05-06T09:44:00.001-07:00

kamal the screenwriter had tried comedy,wholesome entertainment,action and everything other than tragedy. And when god wrote a tragedy, it had to be the best.

mahanadi is an extremely well written and well brought out tragedy and too shocking a movie for its time of release.

one can never forget the scene where kamal's daughter has nightmares from her stay in the prostitute centre or the climax when kamal cuts a part of his hand.

90% of the people who watched the movie had a very sad feeling leaving the cinema halls. thats where the movie succeeds. it makes u feel really bad.

once again so kamal's acting performance makes us forget the fact that its he who has written the movie.

givin The Godfather A Run For Its Money- thevar magan(1992)

2008-05-06T09:05:00.001-07:00

Kamal Haasan finished writing the story and screenplay of devar magan in 15 days. Can u imagine that? The movie recently voted by crores of people as the best movie to have ever come out from tamil cinema was scripted in just 15 days!!!

apart from the screenplay what stands out is Kamal's great acting. especially the climax. he ought to have got a national award for this one. don't know how he missed it.

Thevar magan stands for rich cinema.a rural subject but meant so much for the a centre audience. it had a wonderful performance by kamal's role model sivaji ganesan.

sivaji's role was equivalent to don corleone. Not many realise but thevar magan is the cleverest adaptation of the godfather one can ever see. if cant find out still, watch both movies one more time.

dng dng dng brmmm - singaravelan (1992)

2008-05-06T08:45:00.001-07:00

WHEN KAMAL GOUNDAMANI AND CRAZY WORK TOGETHER ON A PROJECT, it means as much to tamil comedy fans as alice in chains nirvana and pearl jam working together does to grunge metal fans.

this is a joke a minute pun a second comedy film and was the first major film for tamil cinemas present leading comedian vadivelu.

KAMAL WONDERFUL VOICE:-

this movie has a song called pottu vaitha kadhal thittam. it was sung by kamal haasan. its an extremely difficult song to sing and only a great singer like kamal who is at ease with high pitch can sing such a song.

the first peak into the delusional world ( guna 1991)

2008-05-06T07:08:00.001-07:00

first things first - the movies preceding and succeding guna from the kamal table are mmkr and singaravelan - 2 complete laugh riots.

this speaks volumes about the actor/screenwriter's versatality.

guna will be known for two things - firstly, it was kamals maiden attempt at showing what goes inside the mind of a mentally retarded person.. he did it better in aalavandhaan though. and secondly Ilayaraja's classic bgm especially in the paarthavazhi song. brilliant.

guna is a story about a guy who lives in a delusional world thinking about his imaginary lover "abirami". This song, sung by kamal himself has become an integral part of tamil cinema and is referred now and then in many movies and serials.

the god of screenplays. the god of comedies (mmkr - 1990)

2008-05-06T06:57:00.001-07:00

It cant get any better than this. I can write a 5000 page book on this movie coz i have watched it almost on a daily basis till today. its the most addictive movie i've ever seen.

there are two great aspects about this movie

1)kamal's acting

playing quadraples, kamal masters 4 different accents - an nri, a pallakad iyer, a madras localite and a drunk dada. Kamal sees to it that even one all four characters look alike there is not a single similarity in their body language and behaviour.

2.kamal's screenplay

god level are the only two words to describe the simple yet awesome screenplay of this movie. one event beautifully leads to another and its like magic. every character is well utilised and the comic timing is brilliant to say the least.

full of witty and rib tickling double meaning, dialogues by crazy mohan literaly rock.

this this is a sexy song from the movie

one more attack on the telugu mainstream cinema (indrudu chandrudu- 1989)

2008-05-06T05:50:00.001-07:00

a wonderfully essayed role of a corrupt mayor is what stands out in indran chandran... which went on to get kamal haasan one more telugu state award for best actor.

the worlds best entertainer ( aboorva sahodrargal 1989)

2008-05-06T05:46:00.001-07:00

I rate this as Kamal Haasan's most entertaining screenplay. It has all elements of a great entertainer and teaches rajinikanth vijay ajith and other forl=mula heroes on how to make intelligent entertainers.

the dwarf role , kamal-gauthami romance and kamal's dance are the highlights of this movie

the angry young man (sathya 1988)

2008-05-06T05:41:00.001-07:00

sathya is an action film about an unemployed youth who ends up finding about corrupt politicians.Its one of suresh krissna's better works.

the movie is known for kamal's tough guy looks and "valai osai" - the song, sung by spb and lata mangeshkar celebrated all over tamil nadu as the cutest and most heard on radio- duet ever.

the silent melody ( pushpak 1988)

2008-05-06T05:35:00.001-07:00

well, at 34 years of age, most actors are busy consolidating their careers by acting in standard masala flicks and building fan bases, but god kamal haasan stars in "pesum padam" - a silent movie.

scripted and directed by kamals close associate for many movies in the ninetees, singeetham sreenivasa rao. the whole movie is a symphony.Its about a poor youth who chances upon a week of opulance.

amla is the heroines and not only looks great but also does a good job in the acting department

Brando (guruji) - HERE I COME - (1987 - nayagan)

2008-05-06T05:28:00.001-07:00

it was a bet between two friends (mani ratnam and kamal haasan) on who will reinterpret THE GODFATHER first and mani won it by a 5 year gap.

even though kamal went on to make DEVAR MAGAN, A BETTER ADAPTATION, in early ninetees, this performance stands out as the best potrayal of a don in Indian cinema. THE THIRD NATIONAL AWARD FOR HAASAN.

punnagai mannan(1986)-a new landmark in romance

2008-05-06T05:17:00.001-07:00

just 5 years after ek duje ke liye, K.BALACHANDER AND Kamal haasan set a new landmark in romance cinema. This is a very special movie given the fact that it starts off with a sequence from where other screenwriters would go on the flashback, but k.b as different as ever, goes on the forward showing a new life for the protagonist.

the humour element is by another character, resembling charlie chaplin (played by kamal again).

among ilayaraja's bgm's what u are listening to is considered the best till date.

Swathi Muthyam (1986) winning the telugu hearts

2008-05-05T23:16:00.001-07:00

K.Vishwanath and Kamal haasan Proved that salangai oli was no fluke. In this film kamal plays the role of an autistic person and does it to perfection.

i would rate his performance in this movie better than that of Dustin Hoffman in Rainman and Tom hanks in Forrest Gump

saagar(1985) - hindi filmfare for the best actor.

2008-05-05T23:05:00.001-07:00

a second big splash into bollywood, saagar, a poignant love triangle featuring kamal haasan rishi kapoor and dimple kapadia( whose nipples are seen in one particular scene).

kamal became one of the very few tamilians to shine in the hindi film industry and deliver silver jublee hits.

CLASSICAL DANCE CAN'T GET ANY BETTER (1983)

2008-05-05T22:50:00.001-07:00

Saagara sangamam ( salangai oli) was the beginning of the peak. a peak which lasted for more than 20 years(!!) and is still on!!

here, another aspect of kamal haasan's multi-talent comes to the very fore. apart from rendering a brilliant acting performance, kamal also dances to perfection, An effort that was appreciated by many professionals and trained masters of classical dancing.

directed by K.Vishwanath, this movie ranks among the best Telugu movies ever made

moondram pirai( 1983 ) - brilliance in every frame

2008-05-05T22:30:00.001-07:00

Its rare when in a great movie the female lead delivers a flawless performance throughout the film but the male lead takes the national award. It happened in this movie because of the 7 minutes of brilliance that u are watching. Balu mahendra had intended to keep the climax simple and soft but kamal rewrote the screenplay in the last 7 minutes to make it more dramatic, and what we have is probably the best climax tamil cinema has ever seen and will ever see.

this movie will also be remembered as the great poet and lyricist Kannadaasan's last contribution to cinema. the song kanne kalaimaane was a rage among people the movie went on to be a super duper hit

bollywood bows to haasan (1981)

2008-05-05T10:18:00.001-07:00

by far the most productive combination of K.BALACHANDER AND KAMAL HAASAN. ek duje ke liye, a trendsetter as far as romantic cinema is concerned went on to put the bollywood box office on absolute fire. kamal went on to act in many more hindi films later on.

this song is a very catchy number sung by spb and lata mangeskar. The song went on to be a rage among music lovers

the first screenplay (1981)

2008-05-05T10:11:00.001-07:00

rajaparvai (1981) is kamal haasan's first ever screenplay. he went on to right atleast 50 more scripts which were silver jublee hits at the box office.

the movie is about a blind violinist and his romance

guru(1980)

2008-05-05T09:58:00.001-07:00

over the years kamal haasan has mastered all kinds of slangs and dialogue delivery.

In this film,what stands out among them is his "sparkling english" spoken with great ease and flourish.

guru- a commercial con film extended kamals mass to a bigger volume of audience

Engeyum Eppodhum(1979) - the club-rock era

2008-05-05T09:40:00.001-07:00

kamal by the very late seventies and early in the eighties had formed an image of a rockstar cum club dancer. Supported by s.p.balasubramaniams addictive voice, he was featured in a slew of club songs. this one being the most loved among them.

ninnaithale innikum- the movie is a romantic musical which ends on a sad note. directed by K.BALACHANDER, kamal plays the protagonist while rajini plays the role of a comedian in this movie.

kamal-the singer(1978)

2008-05-05T09:32:00.001-07:00

this happens to be the one of kamal haasan's first attempts at playback singing.He is known in the music industry for having a flair for singing at high pitch. its his close friend ilayaraja who encouraged him to sing some breath taking numbers.

apart from that, the film (inspired from a japaneese film called red roses) will be known purely for Kamal haasan's wonderful performance as a psycho serial rapist and serial killer. And also for his very attractive looks.

aval appidithaan(1978) - one of the many collaborations with rajinikanth

2008-05-05T08:59:00.001-07:00

Regardless of how much kamal fanatics hate rajini and his kind of cinema, kamal haasan himself has a special liking for the superstar. Both of them are very close friends and acted together in atleast ten odd movies early in their careers. (between 1975 and early eighties)

in this flick both are expected to "be themselves" and perform natural acting. while kamal does it 100% right, rajini brings in an unwarranted for "style element".

16 vayadhinile(1977)- breaking all norms

2008-05-05T08:48:00.001-07:00

this is a very special film not just in "kamal cinema" but also in "indian cinema". directed by debutant bharatiraja this film started a whole new genre of movie making called "the village thriller".Known for its brilliant characterisation and first time outdoor shooting in tamil cinema, the movie was helped by ilayarajas fantastic score.

all four- bharatiraja, ilayaraja kamal haasan and sridevi made a huge splash into the commercial tamil scene with this masterpiece of a movie.

kamal broke all the norms for a lead hero when he disfigured himself for the role of a stupid and ugly person. here too he is seen acting with minimum clothing- absolutely brilliant.

rajini was the villain and did a good job

Moonru mudichu(1976) - makes his mark in a short role

2008-05-05T08:44:00.001-07:00

I admit that this was one of rajini's better performances in his career. His role in this movie was such that it stole the attention from Kamal haasan. But yet again, kamal comes out in flying colours in playing his part to perfection.

one more great movie by K.Balachander.

its a love triangle with kamal and sridevi in love with each other and rajini also behind sridevi. when kamal falls into water and cant swim, sridevi is torn apart and desperate for help but rajini cares least and is very happy inside

Aboorva Raagangal(1975)- the first big break

2008-05-05T08:07:00.001-07:00

After some 20 odd malayalam and tamil flicks which ranged from average to good, this was Kamal haasan's first breakthrough in tamil cinema. Aboorva raagangal (1975). kamal plays a then, modern youth who believes in violence and falls in love with an older woman, whose daughter on the other end of the city falls in love with kamals dad. A brilliant and unorthodox work by K.BALACHANDER.

AMMAAVUM NEEYAE (1960) - the first national award

2008-05-05T04:46:00.001-07:00

THIS was just a sign of things to come. At the tender age of 6 , in 1960, lord kamal haasan renders a flawless and ultra cute performance as a child artist in 'gemini' ganesan starrer "kalathoor kannamma". It was only fitting that this movie fetched him the first of his 4 national awards.

welcome

2008-05-05T04:15:00.000-07:00

i know no ones gonna read this. still heres the basic intro

this a collection of a more than 100 videos on and about kamal haasan- the greatest multi-talent world cinema has ever seen.

this guy can...
1) act in 240 movies of every genre possible, from action to emotion to rib tickling comedy to silent movies

2)sing 64 songs in absolute high pitch- somethings even other good singers cant

3)direct three of the most well directed films in india- heyram, chachi 420 and virumaandi

4)write screenplay and dialogue for more than 50 silver jublee films

5)perform classical/disco/ kuthu dance with utter ease and brilliant grace

and theres more to the human. the man is an institution not just in film making but also in philosophy and way to treat other human beings. he has very unorthodox views on marriage as an issue and also is the only person to boldly represent sex in its trueform in mainstream indian cinema.He is also a true atheist with proper reasons to back his non-belief in god

theres a lot lot more... one needs a 1000 thousand pages books if his whole life graph is to be covered. long live the great man.