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 A strong comeback by Haasan making a solid impression on the creator in him who felt withdrawn by the fact that the finance man in Haasan was not enough to complete what still remains the absolute dream - Marudhanayagam.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.
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
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?
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.
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.
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.
"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.
It was a long time with youIt was a long time with meIt would be a long time for anyoneBut looks like its meant to beI 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..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..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..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..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.
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.
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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.
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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.
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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...
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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.
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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!
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.
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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.
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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.
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
THE AUTHOR
