23/50 - 'Comeback' Kamal  

Posted by Nishanth Krishnan in

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 A strong comeback by Haasan making a solid impression on the creator in him who felt withdrawn by the fact that the finance man in Haasan was not enough to complete what still remains the absolute dream - Marudhanayagam.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  

Posted by Nishanth Krishnan in

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?  

Posted by Nishanth Krishnan in


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 !  

Posted by Nishanth Krishnan in



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.



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