Conversation with the Creator… of Naan Kadavul
CONVERSATION WITH THE CREATOR
Bala cancels a much-anticipated interview. A disappointed Baradwaj Rangan mulls over the director’s latest film – and the questions it raised.
FEB 13, 2009 – YOU KNOW THOSE DAYS WHEN YOU’RE out on the street with a smile on your lips and a song in your heart, when the grass seems greener, the rose redder, even the Chennai air cleaner, when suddenly a bus passes by and a passenger leans out and squirts a stream of tobacco juice in your direction, and you end up with a stained shirt, a smarting eye and a murderous impulse towards the kid pointing at you and clutching his stomach? Today was one of those days. I was on my way to an interview with Bala, a director I admire and respect enormously if only for single-handedly casting the sepulchral pall that looms over much of recent Tamil cinema. After Sethu, Nanda, Pithamagan, and now, Naan Kadavul, morbid is the new muse. How could anyone not be excited about peering into the darkness and the demons that surely haunt this gaunt artist?
And then his PR person calls. The interview is cancelled. Bala is upset with the review published in this paper. He’s sulking. He’s miffed. He’s angry. So am I. My journalist’s pride is pricked. I want to scream and shout and invent obscenities that will make the messenger break out in a cold sweat, but he’s delivered his dispatch and hung up. I simmer and seethe at my impotence – but soon, the writer in me takes over. I calm down. I understand. Bala is, in the end, a creator, a parent, and no father wants to be told that his child is ugly. But despite that review, I wish he’d met me. I could have told him I really liked his film. I could have distracted him from his distress, engaging him with at least a few of the five thousand questions circling inside my head ever since I exited the theatre.
I would have begun with my heartfelt appreciation of his having made, among other things, possibly the most perverse Tamil film yet. Isn’t it startling, in a cinema culture that swears by love stories, that you cast names like Arya and Pooja and barely have them breathe in the same vicinity? Did you, director sir, deliberately set out to confound audience expectations this way? Surely you would have known that your viewers would hope that, at some point, the tracks about his story (he’s Rudra, an Aghori mystic) and hers (she’s Hamsavalli, a blind beggar) would converge in a heartwarming fashion. But instead, you have a film named after the hero (and yourself perhaps, the director as God?) but a story about the heroine. The hero is just an enabler, an agent – if he’s God, he’s merely a deux ex machina, a last-minute deliverer from evil.
Did Arya know about this, sir, when he signed up? I would have asked you that. Or was he seduced by the grandeur of what, in Tamil film language, we call the Hero Introduction Shot. When we first see Rudra, he’s in an impossible yogic pose, and the camera circles him the way it would in any other Tamil film that worships its hero as a virile god – except that, here, he is literally God. “Aham brahmasmi,” he keeps reminding us. Did you inform him, sir, that you were crafting a modern-day mythological? In the tales of yore, God would leave His celestial abode, descend to earth, do what He needed to do to uphold dharma, and return to the heavens. Isn’t that what the aptly named Rudra does here, leaving Kashi for a village down south, where he is needed, and returning home after his work is done?
And then, sir, I was intrigued by the sequence where Rudra’s father comes to Kashi in search of the son he’d abandoned, 14 years ago. (That number, sir, fourteen years spent in austere exile – could it be a quote from one of our epics?) The Good Samaritan who helps Rudra’s father remarks that Kashi is a fathomless sea of people, and yet, the latter has little trouble finding his son. Isn’t that because this man-God wants to be found (in accordance with the dictates of this avatar of His, so to speak)? And, sir, another question. Why did you name the demon of this story, the villain who runs a begging racket, Thandavan? Isn’t that a name of Shiva too, as Rudra is? Is there a bigger point you are making here, about Manichaean duality or suchlike?
I enjoyed every single one of your conceits, sir. I’ve heard noises that Arya hasn’t been given enough to do, enough of a part to play. But am I right, sir, in intuiting that you needed him less to effect a performance than embody a presence? After all, no less an authority than Rudra’s mother declares him to be suyambhu, self-created, so why would he need to be a character that showed a conventional graph with respect to – for instance – his family? He’s detached from it all – even the screenplay. He sounds a conch. He smokes grass. He recites shlokas so pregnant with import that even Mangaattu Saami, the deformed saint who refuses to see, opens his eyes in deferential acknowledgement. And only when push comes to shove, only when Rudra’s “penance” is disturbed by Hamsavalli’s pitiful entreaties, does a bloody gash on his forehead reveal itself as an angry third eye.
That’s what I meant, sir. This is a perverse masterstroke, to cast a hero in a film from an industry that worships the hero, and then reduce this hero to a mostly passive hanger-on, waiting in the wings for his last-scene cue. As an Aghori, Rudra can prevent the cycle of rebirths – and that’s the sole purpose of this avatar of his, isn’t it, sir? Hamsavalli is born into a family of beggars. She’s snatched away from one life of suffering and “reborn” in another family of beggars. And finally, when a Malayali trader threatens to snatch her away (yet again, from this life), when he attempts to kill her ties with her current family and force her rebirth in yet another family of beggars, she seeks moksha. And who, other than the hero-God can deliver her from this apparently endless cycle of metaphorical rebirths?
What a mind-bogglingly fantastic conceit, sir. Bravo! Where another filmmaker would have been content to have the hero kill the villain (namely, the God kill the Demon), that aspect, in Naan Kadavul, is almost an afterthought. (At least, it appeared that way, sir, because a lot of the latter portions were patchy to the point of distraction. You must forgive my effrontery, sir, but surely this isn’t intentional. What the hell happened?) And sir, you know what else fascinates me? A filmmaker who dabbles with such high-minded hokum would typically be making art cinema, gently gloomy tracts that reflected the lambent sadness of life and it all. But you, sir, are Mr. Commercial! On the one hand, you employ an enigmatic art filmmaker’s trick of leaving the audience in muted suspense about a character’s end. And yet, you don’t shy away from playing borderline-crude melodrama at the highest pitch possible.
Your composer recognises that, sir. We’ve seen Ilayaraja conjure up beautifully understated background scores for understated filmmakers like Mani Ratnam. He’d develop themes, leitmotifs, and these would become as inseparable from the characters as the actor’s faces. But here, sir, he goes for thrilling bombast, and while I personally prefer the other, mellower approach, I can see why that wouldn’t have worked in Naan Kadavul. He sees your scenes play at the high pitches we’re used to in Tamil melodramas, and he responds by scoring at a similarly high pitch. (Incidentally, sir, Maa Ganga Kashi padhaari, the bhajan sung by Kunal Ganjawala over the opening credits, is moving beyond words. I wonder why you didn’t release it as part of your soundtrack.)
I am always taken by this extremely unique aspect of yours – packaging high-minded material in an engagingly lowbrow style. And you do it with such style, sir. The comedy scenes in your films, for instance, aren’t disassociated item pieces, but integrated with the characters and with the spirit of the story itself. I was vastly amused by the sly, dark humour in Rudra’s attempts to settle into his new surroundings, much like a village bumpkin’s misadventures in a glittering city. And that Ambani joke, sir, was genius, as was the bit about the policeman being reprimanded for his faulty English in court. Were these the efforts of your writer Jeyamohan, sir? Was he also responsible for shaping the vast array of memorably colourful characters, especially those misshapen beggar-misfits whom you sometimes linger over a little too lovingly (perhaps even exploitatively)?
These people with severe disabilities have accepted their lot in life and have decided to make the most of it. While we squirm in discomfort at having it so good (in comparison), the incessant humour in their lives ensures that they don’t particularly beg for our sympathies. That’s a touch of real class, sir, to accommodate the commercial compulsion of comedy in such an organic manner into your story. Because we aren’t invited to cry along with them (for the most part), we take them to our hearts. One of my favourite scenes is when their drunken “manager” bonds with them, his conscience uncomfortably (and hilariously) out in the open. (By the way, sir, did you name this character Murugan because you wanted to use the song Ammavum neeye and its unforgettable chant of Muruga Muruga? Or was this merely coincidence? Either way, sir, the effect was blisteringly funny.)
But speaking of golden songs from a golden era, sir, I thought the medley sequence here was a bit too reminiscent of the one in Pithamagan – even if it was great fun to watch, and also better woven into the film (because that’s how we meet Hamsavalli’s first “family;” the elaborate scene establishes the dynamics between these people in a succinct and entertaining manner). And, sir, I didn’t understand why Hamsavalli would sing some of these old songs in “her” voice and some in, say, P Susheela’s (Sondhamillai bandhamillai, from your composer’s first film). Even the new songs, sir, the ones Ilayaraja created specifically for this film, left questions about how and where they were employed. I thought both Pichai paathiram and Om Sivoham deserved better use than just as sonic background for very literal and very obvious montages (about begging in the former; about the hero in the case of the latter).
If I could go on about my issues with the film, sir, I’d contend that the characters went a long way towards compensating for the ungainly transitions in the screenplay. I suppose, sir, that this has (unfortunately) been a consistent part of your work – much like the device of making us love a bunch of misfits before you unleash sadistic brutalities on them – but in Naan Kadavul, I wonder why I felt, for the first time, some sort of creative conflict. What was that late plot point about Christianity, sir, in a film based on the Hindu concept of rebirth? I’d have liked to chat with you and clear my head of these niggling nits, sir, and also tell you, again, how much I remain awed by your efforts to pull off something of this nature. I think you’re terrific, sir. I’m a big fan. And I hope the next time you make a movie, I can say this sitting across you.
Copyright ©2009 The New Indian Express. This article may not be reproduced in its entirety without permission. A link to this URL, instead, would be appreciated.
After the imaginary conversation with Kamal, here’s one with Bala. I’m beginning to think I’m not very popular in Kollywood
I was going to write a separate piece about Naan Kadavul (in a ‘Between Reviews’), but as the interview with Bala didn’t happen, I folded in a lot of those points into this piece.
In the name of realistic cinema do we need to be crude? (Or is crude a strong word) What’s the point is making a movie, when audience cringes all through the movie. Is the director’s message conveyed?
My points. May be wrong also.
In making a movie!!Typo error..
Shucks…..I saw the topic and waited with bated breath for 3 seconds till my page loaded to get an insight into the mind of one of my favourite directors…Sad..Did not expect a person of Balas magnitude to be really worried abt reviews n feedback and thought he would relish the thought of indulging in conversation……
Baddy, superb piece. Loved reading it. BTW, i haven’t got a reaction from you after reading my interview:(
Raja: The problem is also that the Tamil press is usually so fawning, so worshipful of stars and directors — because otherwise they wouldn’t get interviews and such — that film folks get used to expecting positive feedback. And I genuinely hope that’s not the case with Bala, and that here, it’s just a creator’s frustration about something that’s still so close to his heart (which he’s entitled to).
Srinivas: Sorry dude. Haven’t checked email for a long time. Will get back to you over the weekend.
With all those sir’s you might have just added “for Bala is an honorable man” at the end of each line.
Maa Ganga was recorded after the audio release. Wonderful song (I see Uttam Singh’s hand in there a bit too). “mAyA hi sansAr hai. kAshi mOksh ka dhwAr hai” – and the Aghori’s are the gatekeepers. Rudran, as you point out, is definitely the personification of an ideal, but I had a small issue with his implicit obedience of the Guru. How ‘liberated’ is he if someone is able to convince him to do something?
And fully agree on the central conceit of re-incarnation and delivery. This alluded to in a conversation Amsa has with Ramappan I mentioned.
“பெத்த தகப்பனா?”
“இல்லை”
“பின்ன உடு சனியன், என்னையும் உன் அப்பனா நெனச்சுக்கோ!”
Lovely lines and lays out the central conceit beautifully.
The camera is prety much in love with those band of beggars, but I did not think it was exploitative at all (except for that one trader from Ramanathapuram). I realised after I walked out of the hall that their faces and smiles were pretty much what remained with me.
The movie doesnt stray from the patently Indian style of melodrama. I mean did he really HAVE to ask his mother if she knew the meaning of the word? Bala pretty much asks us to take notes so that those of us who are unaware may go home and run to our Tamil dictionaries.
I think Pithamagan was a far more subtle effort – what with the black and white shifting to color and rAjA’s score acknowledges as much. No ‘yArathu yArathu’ or other such tenderness in the score, its all grand – designed to offend those with lighter sensibilites.
All this said I quite liked the movie and will be watching it again.
Still reading and savouring this piece – but I’m put off by the excessive use of “Sir”. For some reason, every time I read the “sir”, the phrase “Iron Bottom” pops up in my head and that is distracting.
I read somewhere that even the most conscious of writers can fall prey to style of writing exposed to recently – did you sub-consciously pick the sir from the other DevD post where someone kept addressing you as sir
Hi BR,
I didn’t read your review of this film in Indian Express. Can you publish the review here ?
Br, I wish you really do another between reviews piece for naan kadavul. This one is doesnt cut it. Too unformed and hastily put together in my opinion. If you follow IR’s cue, you should really do a bombastic piece on Naan Kadavul than this low-key, fawning(Sir, sir, sir, what sir?) article.
For all my disagreement about your views on Dasavatharam, I thought that article was so beautifully written(actually, I look more for the latter(writing) than for the former(content)) – this one, the content seems to be holding back some of your thoughts and the writing is way to unbranganesque. Please do another piece, please.
And they left out Kannil Paarvai. I know the integrity of the film is the primary thing but how could Bala do this? I wish you had met him and I wish you could have asked him this.
Rahman is lucky, or perhaps smarter, he chooses directors who give maximum value-add in visuals to his songs. Bala certainly was the best IR had as of current days but he seems to have let him down in this movie.
BR, wonderful intrepretations and reading a lot into the movie (as ever). Before reading, I was waiting to see how this unconventional chat (I see Bala as a rustic, raw unpolished carbon while you as much refined, cosmopolitan and more urban) unfolds.. But after reading, I wish even more so to see how he would have responded (I assume he would’ve just smiled as a reply to many of your questions, meaning “Only He knows”)
I do wish this interview happens sometime now…
Actually the movie has started growing in me after your piece before which I thought the movie was good but not rounded enough. i.e.: The story, characters especially that of Arya was not thought enough.
Thanks for the piece. Any link to the review that irked Bala?
brangan:
I think Naan Kadavul is one of the few tamil movies with the first plot point at the 20 min mark.
My problem is not about who is the real protagonist of the movie.Ok, you ve shown us two protagonists who we can relate to.Why meander and show us days in the lives of the beggars again and again , when all we want is to see the lead characters .
1. Do you believe in God ?
2. I know you like to do interpretative reviews. Does the word limit in newspapers suffocate you into abandoning this and stating the obvious like other reviews.
BR,
When was the review published?!! who wrote it BTW? Any links please.
Deepauk M/raj: I added all those “sirs” as some sort of effect — because directors in Kollywood are called “sir” (bala sir, Mani sir, and so on), and I thought it would be fun to mimic that brown-nosing in this faux-interview. Clearly that didn’t come through
You mean “thoomai”? But that went with the film, I thought, with that Aiyirandu verse. It’s not just flung out there for shock effect, right?
Prabhu: I don’t do the Tamil reviews. The Tamil critic is Malini Mannath. I’ll try to dig out a link.
The Normal Guy: reg. “when all we want is to see the lead characters” – not really. I thought everyone was important in the film, which was more of an ensemble piece than the average Tamil film. About word limits, all my reviews are written the way they appear in the blog, but edited down for the prin version.
I have a different take on the movie which I have recorded in my blog.
The one thing that I fully agree upon is the ‘Kaasi’ song. Touching beyond words. Illayaraja has scored a couple of bhajan’s in the recent past. One of Gandhiji, which was sung partly by Bhimsen Joshi and another as a add on to ‘Manikanda Geeta Mala’ which was sung by Rajan and Sajan Mishra. Those two bhajans are good but this bhajan is the most moving of the lot. Kudos to the singer as well. (BTW, loved the BGM when Rudran’s mother speaks to him in her house. Excellent flute as usual.)
brangan: I understand that the verse and word come with the territory. But to pause and ask “thoomai-na enna-nu theriyum-la?” seemed a bit overdone. That was my only grouse. I dont think the siththar verse it was unwarranted (though I am not looking forward to explaining it to my family when I watch the movie with them
).
And regarding the quasi brown-nosing – I got that is what you were doing. But in context it felt (to me) like you were saying to Bala that he craves a nose up his… (sort of like Koundamani addressing Senthil as ‘aapiser’ in Indian).
The Express review
I simply love his choice of old movie songs.
A blind good voiced protagonist isn’t something new to us. But by not making a new song on Pooja (kannil paarvai) and making her sing all golden old melodies, Bala emphasizes that the character is blind and bounded just by abilities to reproduce songs rather than produce them.
And when pooja’s first family is shown as a entity for the firs time, the first father trains in harming himself which would go just unnoticed. But later when the policeman whacks him he justs receives them with so ease, upon which the policeman frowns too. Just an example of how minutely accurate u can go about even a 5 minute appearing character.
And this i read somewhere, starting from the scene where the villain descends from a Thandavan & Co sticker ed vehicle and descends further down into a different world to the scene where in the malayali nair carries of chosen beggars is initself a seperate movie.
For me apart from the outburst from AAsaan character, this quip form the divinely smiling boy “yov, nee ennaiya? pichaikaaran kitayae pichai eduthkitirukka” was exhilarating.
The bloody gash on the forehead, the third eye, what an awesome thought. Never saw it that way. Does Bala even give interviews? I have never came across even a single one.
I think Arya was more seduced by what happened to Vikram and Surya after Bala’s movies.How I wish I can get a glimpse into his mind when he saw the completed movie.
Suresh: Do you have links to those bhajans? Thanks.
Deepauk M: reg. “But in context it felt (to me) like you were saying to Bala that he craves a nose up his…” Jesus H Christ! That wasn’t where I was going at all. Now I wonder what you’d thought if I’d gone with my earlier idea of using “saar”
naren: reg. “I simply love his choice of old movie songs.” Absolutely. Imagine Pooja being blind and that MGR-lookaline launching into “Kannai nambaadhey”
paadhi: Actually, I did a five-minute interview with him a long time ago, when I was starting out
I liked both the movie and your write up here.
Incidentally, I got this link to Malini Mannath’s review, which I feel is quite unfair to both Bala and the movie.
Under acting she only talks about Arya. No mention of Pooja and physically challenged people who did so well. Selecting these people and making the challenged people act evidently takes lot of time!
Baddy, I’m not sure about Kollywood, but I’m certain you are persona non grata in Bollywood by now!!
raj, who let down whom?
Wow awesome write up. The article has made me want to watch the movie again. The interview with Bala couple of years back gives a picture what the man is, i just hope he makes movies at a better frequency.
Rangan,
Here is the link to Mandir Sabari, uploaded by a very dedicated Illayraja fan, Rajasaranam. Lovely singing by Rajan and Sajan Mishra.
http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=92d0c5a58eae7e5d95af63b7d44918aa8863110ab8ec5db0
The link to Gandhiji’s bhajan, by Bhimsen Joshi and others. Based on Sindhu Bhairavi.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z86LscyJhNY
Someone seems to have recorded the Kaasi song of Nan Kadavul in the theater. The link to that song:
http://www.mediafire.com/?t3tztenzi2y
“The hero is just an enabler, an agent – if he’s God, he’s merely a deux ex machina, a last-minute deliverer from evil. ”
Spot on. That’s how I too found it. What other reason can there be for Rudran to stay back even after he had cut off his familial ties (with that one word
)?
I also liked the way the Bala had scripted the intervention of Rudran. It is only when Thandavan gets more greedy that he runs into trouble.. Sort of, crossing the line of acceptability (running d beggar racket, viz., his means of survival).
Btw, while I did get the “Sir’ thing, I feel it was a bit overdone.
Thanks for the link the economic times article. But after reading all your reviews, and especially this naan kadavul piece, I seriously doubt if this is the same guy who wrote, “I think a thing made of mud is a thing made of mud, even if it’s shaped like a horse and labelled terracotta.” I rather think that you would find a story behind a mound of mud lying in the corner of the road and start appreciating the brilliance of the artist who left a horse wandering alone on the road
shankar, ignore. With full knowledge that it is unfair, I made that unfair comment on Bala that he let down IR
(Wanted to see Kannil Paarvai, pun unintended, it is just the expectations were unfulfilled even though I realise that it wasnt needed in the final cut of the movie)
BR, there is no pressure on you to write your reviews like the Malini template ?- neatly separated headlines Plot, script, direction, music, junior artiste – SUN TV review maadhiri irukku.
Man, they should let you do the *IMPORTANT* Tamil film reviews. Look what happened? Bala got pissed off with Indian Express. All because a critic didnt do her job properly.
Enjoyed reading this…I think because of all the cheeky “Sirs.”:-)
Kannan: It’s a reviewer’s prerogative to talk about the aspects that impacted him/her the most. The fact that Bala spent all the time training those disadvantaged people doesn’t necessarily mean their performances have to work for the critic, no?
raj: The critic wrote what was her opinion. Bala didn’t get pissed off with the format. He wasn’t happy about the opinions in the review. His PR sent an SMS to that effect.
adhavadhu, sila movies only sila reviewers can handle. Generally also, I find women(not sure how old Malini is , assuming it is the 25-35 range) in general and women of 25-35 dont appreciate Bala movies that much – sweeping statement based on anecdotal evidence so it stands on flimsy ground – wonder if thats got to do something with it.
Naan Kadavul maadhiri oru movie review panna, you need a critic who has wider experience of cinema like you – thats what I am driving at. I am not saying Malini is incompetent. The format was my gripe – I did understand that Bala might have had problems with content.
OMG, it’s almost a fanboy reaction. Or at least it sounds like one. Anyway, I haven’t seen the movie yet, so let me hold.
The depressing undertones of all his movies is something that bothers me. His movies are great, he has been bold with his scripts and all that but I sometimes feel he plays around with the audience psyche and wins in the bargain. Just my thoughts but I thought Sethu was ok, Nanda I never watched and Pithamagan was brilliant. It’s like as if Gautham Menon is going for Mani Sir’s place and Bala sir is going for Bharatiraja’s. Is that an unfair comparison?
And am sorry but I had to point this out from the Express review:
“For Arya and Pooja, two actors known for their urban glamour-roles,………..”
Excuse me!! Pattiyal?Oram Po? Arindhum Ariyamalum? Yes, they were set in cities but calling them urban roles is too much!!
I find Arya becoming the Abhay Deol of Tamil cinema. Though not a class act like the Deol boy but he is trying. Just has to stop his occasional hamming.
And you should see this!!!
Reading too much into a Bala movie can lead one to some inventive inferences.
Manichaean duality? metaphorical rebirths? I am outta here
I have not seen this film, but having seen Pithamagan, I know that Bala’s efforts dont go much beyond the characterization and the bizarre fringe world he choses to portray. But atleast he gets that right, I give him credit for that.
Pithamagan itself was a very ordinary love-loss-revenge masala story(of course people can read into the movie and discover something mmore for themselves but I wont go there) with commercial ingredients sprinkled in liberally. And no, his comedy track there stuck out like a sore thumb. Surya tried too hard to get the laughs, and I wanted to jump into the screen and strangle Laila during the film.That Simran old song medley(once again) dance was also just an add-on.
And I agree, all these “sir”s is making it look like a sify review, written after they were compensated well by Bala’s company.
A true review….. I dont think its a great movie.. Its good in nits and pieces.. thats it..
“Manichaean duality or suchlike”
Mudiyala!
Felt the same about a lot of points (Arya’s role when seen as God, the scenes on the beggars bordering on being exploitative, the patchiness in the final portions, the comedy, etc.) in the film (my review here). But the ‘third eye’ was a fantastic interpretation I didn’t get. Kudos! As Bart said, this is one movie that I’m liking more after introspection.
PS: Felt the paragraph on Hamsavalli’s life and end and Rudran’s role in it deserved a spoiler warning.
Well, well. I think you glorify the movie for much more than was intended by the very maker. In this age of Villu and Padikkathavan, Bala restores hope. But, with a mind blowing canvas spread, he, I felt, does not paint a picture that well. Mr. Commercial, ruins the movie.
You are spot on with your take on IR’s songs and re-recordings. And, I was pleasantly surprised by the screen time given to the hero of the movie – though equally disappointed that the limited screen time was wasted away in meaningless grunts and fight sequences uncalled for. The whole beggar trade thing was too masala-like. Not to say it doesn’t happen but wasn’t very imaginative. The medley sequence was irritating, lesser than in Pithamagan but as unwarranted… Anyway.
Also, I think you are reading too much into the movie – like you did with Dasavatharam. I doubt if the makers would have thought of it the way you have put it through. When the maker pours in so much into a movie, it generally comes across – here, it did not. Neither in Dasavatharam.
Well, the only goodie points from me is for the very background chosen, no ‘heroine’, and the music of course. Come to think of it, the loud music has actually done the movie a world of good…
BR – The ‘Sir’s in your post make the whole text a tad unreadable. If you could only ‘Find and Replace’ the ‘Sir’ with ‘ ‘… thanks..!
Thanks BR. You’ve helped me tie up most of my loose ends after watching Naan KadavuL. I did realize that Rudran being peripheral to the proceedings was by design and IRs ‘ஒரு முறையா இரு முறையா, பல முறை பல பிறப்பெடுக்க வைத்தாய்’ seemed to denote Amsavalli especially, but I wasn’t able to link most of these high brow stuff together. Blame it on my lack of knowledge in Hindu philosophy.
Even without such understanding, to me Naan KadavuL is both Bala’s richest and darkest so far and really served to reclaim the admiration for him that I had almost lost after Pithaamagan. He seemed to have settled into a formula by then, just changing the settings from film to film. In NK that formula is still intact, but it is heartening to see what he achieves using this template.
Jeyamohan has already stated how such colourful characters came into existence in Naan KadavuL in the numerous promotional interviews he gave pre-release. He had also said Arya had a lot of Tamil dialogues. Now he refuses to write abt the film and I’ve not been able to find why the 2nd half was very patchy despite the film being short.
I sincerely hope you’d do a BR for this film.
This is the second time there is an imaginary interview.
I want the real ones – from kamal and from bala – U ahould have a PR of ur own
Vijay, I too thought Pithamagan was merely a standard revenge story that was made with outcast characters and settings. Seems like anything “different” in Indian cinema is usually with surface-level elements and not actual substance or themes.
Adithya: Gautham is quite obviously gunning for Mani saar’s marketspace, quite consciously too I might add (have you seen the stills for viNNaith thANdi varuvAyA?), but Bala is most definitely not the next anything. The man has quite single handedly started a new way of looking at films in this portion of the sub continent. Thanks for the Abhay Deol link!
Vijay: Any movie can be reduced to a 4 or 5 word plot arc if one wants to. To tell a story that one believes has never been told before, one would have to wipe out collective audience memory. puthuk kathai enRu ethuvumE kidaiyAthu, puthu mAnthargaL mattumE uLLanar.
This is perhaps why the man chooses to focus on the characterizations. Yes Pithamagan can be reduced to that story arc if one wants, but Siththan’s character and the interactions alone elevate the movie well above ‘very ordinary’. You are entitled to your opinion, but if PithAmagan is ‘ordinary’ you will find it quite difficult to see an above ordinary thamizh film.
Kiruba: reg. “2nd half was very patchy despite the film being short.” And as we don’t have a culture of director’s cut DVDs, we’ll never find out what Bala’s original, uncut version of NK looked like. It’s very frustrating.
Deepauk M: VTV is GM’s film? I didn’t see his name on the posters. I thought it was just someone ripping off images from Dil Se
BR – The first song we hear from Amsavalli, that is in the train, is not the original P.Susheela/old singer’s voice. It has recorded once again by Raja (Singer Madhumitha?) Before the next song, she is kidnapped to Thandavan’s place. So i intrepreted that Amsavalli has been reduced to a ‘tool’ by Thandavan – which can sing songs and earn money.
And, that third eye intrepretation is brilliant. Thanks for sharing.
One more input – i loved the shot when Amsa, Rudhran and Maangatuchaami meet for the very first time. It was like an optical illusion, with Rudhran lying parallel to the sloping steps between Amsa and Maangatuchami. One single shot conveys it all!
And would you be writing a BR on this movie?
Aravindan: That was a very nice piece. I loved the analogy about stones on the river bed. And no, I’m not doing another piece on this. I pretty much said what I had to say about the film.
Aravindhan,
That was a brilliant shot! The blue sky occupying more of screen space while ‘Rudran’ is lying, gives a mystical aura to the complete scene, and yes Raaja perfectly understands the grandeur of Cosmos and Rudran in this scene – makes ourselves feel like ‘Ayam BrahmAsmi, Aham BrahmAsmi’
brangan: I hear that it is a GM film. I hope I haven’t become another peg in the false publicity ladder.
Aravindan: Absolutely wonderful post. Enjoyed reading it.
Some excessive cud chewing reveals a commentary on god’s ‘form’. The climb to the sanctum of the maangaattu saami malaikkoyil is lined with the ‘differently abled’ dressed up as Sivan, Krishnan, Murugan etc… all recognisable gods from the Hindu Pantheon. The man at the top is the maangaatu saami who in essence obtains his alms without altering form – a disabled god to a disabled people. Rudran is always shown spatially higher than maangaattu saami indicating that he is the evolution of the understanding that god is in man’s image (i.e. I am god – Aham Brahmasmi)
I wonder if the Christianity plot point fits in this way. (Book of Genesis: God made man in his image and all that..)
I am also in as much awe as you are in after watching NV.. The scenes about begging shown in slumdog millionaire pale in comparison with NV.. It’s time I feel that our Western fascination ceases to exist and a man like Bala goes much beyond Kollywood.. NV is the most organic movie that I am sure I one will see this year..
Great writing, BR. Didn’t feel so bad about the Kamal non-interview, but we hardly ever get to read any serious interviews from this guy. Big loss… for both sets of fans!
Just watched the movie a few hours ago and it just blew my mind. It felt like he sort of set out to make the most deviant, anti-establishment, anti-everything movie in tamil cinema.
The movie was just filled with one irreverent frame after another, nothing was sacred. The misshapen beggars dressed up as different gods (the NTR joke really wrote itself), the protagonist (god?) lacking a conventional “character arc” are at some level a commentary about the role of god(s) in our society.
Also, the scene where the priest has to lift the maangaattu saami out of his sanctum sanctorum to bestow his blessings, a limbless “god” who cannot assume the traditional god pose and stubbornly remains deaf and blind.
“…Manichaean duality or suchlike?”
Umm… isn’t advaita vedanta and suchlike more closer? or is that just too simple?
“…I thought both Pichai paathiram and Om Sivoham deserved better use…”
I felt Pichai paathiram was put to very good use. I don’t know if it was IR’s idea or Bala’s to use this song but the visuals with physically challenged people took the words to a whole new level.
And, I too felt that the “sir” usage came across a tad too dickish but its understandable with the journalist’s-pricked-pride, creator-is-a-parent thing, etc…
OT: If you haven’t seen it already, the “basterds” teaser is at…
http://movies.yahoo.com/premieres/11990378
Four words. Eli Roth – baseball bat!
characteristically brilliant piece Baradwaj..
Interesting piece on the film here:
http://satyamshot.wordpress.com/2009/02/13/thought-provoking-piece-on-naan-kadavul/
Ravi K: In the last three years,what do you think is the best Tamil film? Can you name just one?
Deepauk M: I understand how you feel…loosela viduma. To each his own!
Deepauk, I meant Pithamagan was pretentious, in that it had mostly masala aspirations but because of who the lead character was it was somehow received as a serious effort and sadly overrated.Not much thematic richness there.
Vikram’s characterization itself was over-the-top for me in Pithamagan. The barks and growls overdone just to get noticed? Classic case of “acting”.
No, I dont expect a completely novel plotline replete with what BR calls “mindblowing conceits”. Although novel screenplay structures are quite possible.
(Example of a movie with a very ordinary plotline that I liked better than Pithamagan – Kaadhal. The execution was focussed here)
Like someone else mentioned before it almost became a patented pattern for his movies until that point. Mentally challenged in Sethu, a guy who burns corpses in Pithamagan and now a guy who eats corpses(although they supposedly censored it out).. what next? Bala can make a good shockumentary sometime in his life. He has the taste for it.
Gaipajama: As you’ve pointed out, seems Aghoris are non-dualistic monists.
Deepauk M: “dressed up as Sivan, Krishnan, Murugan etc… all recognisable gods from the Hindu Pantheon.” Yeah, that was a fantastic touch, vis-a-vis the mangaatu saami who didn’t alter his “disabled” form, and of course, Rudran, who’s all unmangled virile godliness.
Gaipajama: “Manichaean duality” is just a descriptive psychological handle. It’s not a uniquely Western concept or anything. Pure black and pure white, and suchlike, are concepts that exist in every culture. You can use the term for Batman-vs-Joker, and you can use it for Rudran-vs-Thandavan. I was interested in the implications of the antagonist being named along the lines of the protagonist. And of course, I’ve seen the trailer, and of course, I can’t wait
Vijay: But if you look at films that way, Hitchcock mostly made films about innocent men on the run. The similarity/recurrence of pet themes/tropes/signatures is what identifies an obsessive artist — though, of course, the film has to work as well, and I can understand if you have problems with the film itself.
About Pithamagan having “masala aspirations” – it WAS a commercial movie. (I wouldn’t use the term “masala” though.) Bala isn’t an art film maker. But where I differ from you is when you say “it was somehow received as a serious effort,” as if the instance of melodrama and comedy tracks and so on precludes greatness.
Vijay: Brangan has quite succinctly explained the major portions of my stance, so I will chime in with a few small additions.
The genius in PithAmagan lies in the after-effects of Siththan’s character. You might say there are no “mind-blowing” conceits but I am able to see Freud and a theological debate on the interchangeable nature of the father and the son. And I fully agree that these might be my own readings and not ones Bala intended. I say this to drive home that I am the pretentious one not Bala. Conceit enna padaththulayA irukku? Conceit manasula irukku
And regarding shock value, be it NK or PithAmagan Bala’s strong point is not purely in using such characters but in also having the ability to make us look past our own reflex reactions of pity/disgust when confronted with such people. He may have failed to do so in your view, but not in mine.
I tried reading the first 4 paras and got so fed up with your ‘Sir’ . If you think you are being sarcastic then I wish it good luck, but as a reader it is simply too irritating to digest that too every 4 th line. I regularly follow your reviews in IExpress.Reading your review first time on the net was such a horrible experience. I could not cross 4 paras. I expect better things from an intelligent man like you
When Mr.BRangan has these many doubts how
did he let them publish the article on the film.This is what you journalists are…even when you are not sure about something you will write it and publish it.
You have to think twice before writing, also should ensure twice what you write is correct…this not an ordinary movie.
How can BRangan sir come to a conclusion that Bala cancelled the interview because of the previous article only…there could be other reasons also…
Hi Brangan,
Enjoyed your review very much! Thanks for the wonderful insights – and to the others who have commented. I have watched the film again and was more impressed with it this time around.
I was most impressed by IR’s score, the cinematography, and performances. It all worked well together. IR’s work in this film and by all indications of the soundtrack, his work in Nandala are testament to the great composer he is.
Can’t wait for IR to get his shot at a truly international project.
Thanks again for your review. Very insightful.
Cheers,
Tirukumar
BR & Compli – Thanks
Naresh: reg. “How can BRangan sir come to a conclusion that Bala cancelled the interview because of the previous article only” – Did you even read this piece? And reg. “You have to think twice before writing, also should ensure twice what you write is correct” – for this advice, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
But in general, I’m amazed how the feedback to this piece has been. The first few calls I got were from people who got the idea. They said things like, “I’m glad you liked the film and I’m glad you said so even if he cancelled the interview.
Then, things got quite interesting. I got a couple of calls from curious Kollywood people who wanted to know about my “fight” with Bala. Another person I met got into an argument about “how could you hate this wonderful film!” Another reaction went “What is this controversy between you and Bala.” A journalist colleague was very proud that “I’d put Kollywood in its place, and shown these folks that they can’t dick around with journos.”
In short, forget MY interpretations of Bala’s film. The interpretations of my interpretations of Bala’s film are getting to be far more interesting
“How can BRangan sir come to a conclusion that Bala cancelled the interview because of the previous article only…there could be other reasons also…
”
Naresh-Saar, that has been clearly stated in the piece. Read again.
BR, so whats the equation with Bala now? Kollywood’s gonna mark you as the “besant-nagar dude”, who cannot stomach a ‘real’ film like Naan Kadavul, and is forever in praise of the yuppie type stuff from Bollywood? Ah! You cant say I didnt prepare you for this moment
BTW, the more I read about the way this is developing, the more I am disappointed that your editor didnt have the foresight to let you review this instead of the rookie reviewer. This is an unnecessary storm in the tea cup.
BR: “for this advice, I thank you from the bottom of my heart” – Quite unusual response from you. I would associate this kind of a response WITH RGV in his blog! Vintage RGV!!
Anand, yeah I wonder. i thought I might have been much more provocative multiple times before than this
*I did not want to post this but the image in my mind caused so much laughter that I felt it my duty…*
Naresh: To quote Mirchi Siva “Semma comedy sir neenga”.
brangan: Comment 62 reminds me of Silver Spoon Silpa Kumar and the unintended after effects of a fan declaring “varungAla muthalamaichchar Silver Spoon Silpa Kumar vAzhga”.
BR, you talk about the brown-nosing in kollywood. What about the ones here :
“It’s a reviewer’s prerogative to talk about the aspects that impacted him/her the most. The fact that Bala spent all the time training those disadvantaged people doesn’t necessarily mean their performances have to work for the critic, no?”
“The critic wrote what was her opinion.”
Is this really what you have to say even when people ask specifically what you think about the review by Malini (I mean reviewing reviews is not your profession) ? Or do we not know, after following you all these years, about ‘reviewer’s opinion and prerogative’ ? When you want the film makers and the audience to raise their standards (thats what I think you imply when you critically review movies), what are your thoughts about the publisher and the critic who comes up with a line (the only line about IR in the review) : ‘A key strength is Illaiyaraja’s background score, which fuels the narration, and fills in the gaps where the punch is lacking.’ ??????!!!!
You had so many questions from one movie of Bala ! I have one question from all your writings so far !! ‘Who is your english teacher ?’
The shot I love from the movie is a piece of montage from the pichai pathiram song, where this small, naughty kid whistles to a young girl and she just helplessly stares. Not sure if those people were made to act or this was a candid shot, but this evokes a smile on me everytime I see this song !!
I made a point about Bala spending all the time with the disadvantaged people more in relation to the reviewer’s comment that for the three years it took to make the movie it has not come out well (I tried to go back to the review to get the exact words, the link does not work any more). While the reviewer has commented on the length of time as though it is relevant to the quality of the final output, she could not see the great acting which seems to have touched quite a number of people. Three year time frame is something that is in no way relevant to the review. The time frame affects the producer who has invested in the movie, not the reviewer who has to judge the final product. If the movie had been produced in three months’ time would the reviewer have a different opinion of the same movie?
On the question of ‘reviewer’s prerogative’, I would feel there are certain responsibilities of a professional reviewer. An individual who reviews on his or her own account has less responsibilities compared to one employed by a mass magazine or a newspaper. The latter needs to reflect as a much a fair view of the good and bad aspects of the movie as possible. This of course requires one to pay attention to the movie. I find it is so remarkable that the reviewer was not touched by Pooja’s acting, leave alone the disadvantaged.
“But where I differ from you is when you say “it was somehow received as a serious effort,” as if the instance of melodrama and comedy tracks and so on precludes greatness.”
Melodrama and comedy can easily preclude greatness if not handled well, with Thavamai thavamirundhu and Mani Rathnam’s early dico shanthi comedy tracks being good examples respectively.
Bala didnt know where to draw the line with the Surya-Laila comedy track. The joke, if there was one, was stretched much beyond the finish line. Same with Vikram’s characterization, Simran’s dance and so on. The execution was the problem for me.
” The similarity/recurrence of pet themes/tropes/signatures is what identifies an obsessive artist ”
Yeah, like Shankar and his vigilante-based movies, right?
Deepauk, ennatha solla.. I wish you could use your imagination to read more into Perarasu and his movies. Who knows, you might uncover a conceit or two:-) By the way, is’nt conceit a characteristic of the screenplay? Maybe I am wrong but I thought conceit was a screenplay device and not just in interpretation.
In Pithamagan, didnt you get tired of Vikram after a while? The guy awfully overacts most of the time. I thought his mannerisms were exaggerated for effect.He can’t hold a candle to say, Kamal’s Guna.
“Bala’s strong point is not purely in using such characters but in also having the ability to make us look past our own reflex reactions of pity/disgust when confronted with such people.”
Hmm..when you have paid 100 bucks + transportation+popcorn and have decided to watch the movie, you have no choice but to look past the initial reactions. what are you going to do, look away?
(just kidding)
I get your point, but maybe you get used to it after the first few mins.
This is just my theory- due to the world in which Bala’s movies are set and the bizarre character his lead usually is, Bala gets away with the tag of being a serious filmmaker who somehow merits more reading into his movies . This is based on his first 3 movies, I have not seen NK yet. Occasionally certain scenes betray his true ambitions, like the almost entire first half of Sethu(very very ordinary), the portions in Pithamagan I talked about and so on. Nanda was probably more balanced(from my vague memory, I have to re-watch it) but then the ending had to be sudden and bleak(to the point of being incredulous) because the previous bleak ending in Sethu worked.
But having said all that, I still want to see Naan Kadavul.
Vijay: If by “great films,” you mean films that 100% great — like 24-carat gold, no kalappadam — then I wouldn’t be able to call any film from any corner of the world great. The thing about Mani’s early films is that they are great entertainers DESPITE the aspects you mention.
I was going to add Shankar’s films in my comment, as a contrast, but was feeling lazy. But now that you bring it up, there’s a difference between films that are plot-based (Shankar’s films) and character-based (Bala’s films). In the former, when you’re recycling the same plot with minor variations, it gets boring. (Of course, a better director would be able to pull this off — not Shankar.) But when the film is about the people, the minute shades with which they are drawn matters, and IMO, Bala scores there. You could say that his characters are all from the fringes of society, but I find each of them to have enough variations and colour to stand out on their own.
And about Perarasu, if we look at his films with an open enough mind, they might actually be worth something. For us, we laugh at them because he is making masala movies in a film era where they are (mostly) passe, but someone who is writing a film-studies thesis on, say, Masala Movies and the Connection with Dravidian Culture, could do worse than to study a boxed set of these films. (Not for their “cinematic quality,” of course, but for the archetyal elements in them.)
Sethu, actually, I liked quite a bit, even the first half. The stuff with the elections, the way Bala had shaped the heroine, all this worked for me. Pithamagan, I’m on the same page as you. I wanted to strangle that Laila character. I’d rather hoped it was her in that gunny bag
” I’d rather hoped it was her in that gunny bag ”
That’s quite strong, coming from you
I wonder if Laila was the reason for that – I saw the same movie in Kannada and didnt get put off as much as by Laila – it was a line-by-line remake so my feeling is Laila’s limitations might have something to do with it.
Actually, I wasn’t put off by either Surya or Laila in Pithamagan. I thought their characters were conceived as effective counterpoints to Vikram and Sangeetha. Sure, some could be put off by her screechy voice but then I was never a big fan of Amala’s original voice either (though my friends in college used to swoon at her mention)…the Vichu/Sushee exchange in Agni infuriates me to this day…so I guess, it’s a matter of personal tastes
Well, I think Pithamagan was definitely awesome but at the same time, Vikram did overreact. I thought he did waht BR terms “acting”. The movie worked big time for me thanks to Surya! Wasn’t he a revelation in it especially fresh after Khaaka Khaaka?
Something I read…
http://www.thecommentfactory.com/indian-composer-ilaiyaraaja-is-a-genius-how-long-can-the-west-ignore-him-1878
Check this blog out:
http://satyamshot.wordpress.com/
Again Baradwaj does a better job of explaining my stance than I do
, but I think over multiple viewings I have come to accept the inconsistencies in Laila’s character in PithAmagan and disregard her voice’s Fran Dreischer-esque effects (to the point where “LoosAppA nI?” remains a fixture in my vernacular repertoire).
I imagine Baradwaj could have done a good job describing ‘Conceit’ as well, but let me attempt to do so. I quote from Wiki due to my insufficient linking skills: “conceit is an extended metaphor with a complex logic that governs an entire poem or poetic passage”. The term existed long before screeplays and films. From the standpoint of a consumer whatever one reads, until confirmed by the ‘artist’(nAn remba artist sAr), as the conceit will remain an interpretation. A very wise man once said to me: “The word uLLarththam may not imply the subtext of the piece/text/film but the meaning hidden in the audience.” [Hence that dialog paraphrased from GuNA].
And the comparison of GuNA and Siththan is unfair as they are very very different characters. In order to address your allegations of ‘overacting’ one would need to get into an acting discourse, which, though I have opinions on, am not qualified to discuss with any authority. But let us just look at Siththan. The lack of explanation offered for why he is he way he is makes me believe that he is purely an ‘idea’ as opposed to a person. How does one ‘define’ the parameters for the reactions of someone like Siththan? I grant BAlA the benefit of doubt because, as Zero said quite eloquently elsewhere, buying into this is necessary to unraveling other aspects of the film.
The most interesting portions of the movie are the portions where Sakthi/Gomathy/Manju/Siththan interact. Everything else to me is just to drive the plot forward and is almost perfunctory. There is a nice shot in ELangAththu veesuthE (The gold standard of song videos and the most justice done to a RAjA song in terms of visuals IMO) where Manju models her new saree for Sakthi. Karunaas is in the foreground whitening his face with talcum powder while looking at the mirror and turns and looks at Siththan for approval. And Siththan just stares back at him with a deadpan expression. That small sequence and the limp body language is far more telling and important to PithAmagan than all the loud Siththar pAdal singing.
Shankar: I am getting a little tired of this — not the content of the article (which is very good), but the “west ignoring IR” angle. Why weren’t we worried about the “west” accepting IR before Rahman won the golden globe? And now what? Are we going to start trotting out the Burmans and Salil Choudhury and C Ramchandra and G Ramanathan and so on for the “west” to acknowledge?
Baddy, I apologize…I didn’t mean to put that link in here because I thought it was a valuable piece or I supported it. I’m not quite sure why I posted it here, actually…it’s possibly the contect, as you say!! I couldn’t care a hoot about West accepting IR or anyone else for that matter though I’ll agree it does give me some pride when that happens (and this could be solely because I live here in this society).
My only pet peeve, as you know, is with India accepting and recognising IR (Padma, Bharat Ratna etc). Again, I have no intention of raising that topic over and again…there are more interesting things to talk about. Araichamaave araichu enna punniyam?
Shankar: Awards are largely a matter of luck/chance. It’s the work that really matters. For instance, the Oscar in Rahman’s case is just gravy. His *real* award — to get a shamelessly maudlin here — is the listener’s reaction when a song like Arziyaan plays, to effect that kind of mood in an audience. We wouldn’t be celebrating the impending Oscar if Danny Boyle had, for whatever reason, hired Pritam. The cause for joy is that a true artist like Rahman is being recognised on a world stage.
The reason such posts irk me is that in supporting or going against the POV in these articles, we start looking for superlatives, and that’s not fair at all, especially when the two artists are as night and day as IR and ARR. Suresh has a very nice post here about this.
Because if we keep getting into this “who is better” mode, there is never going to be a clear resolution and the examples thrown up (to laud the artist in question) end up annoying you. In the link above, there’s a clip where Rajeev Menon talks about composers earlier than Rahman couldn’t tailor their music to Hindi tastes. He’s forgotten that, for a while, Anand-Milind and others were plagiarising IR tunes, and certainly the Hindi public didn’t seem to mind.
And it’s not just about IR. Gulzar (if I remember right) made a comment about how Rahman changed the mukhda-antara format in film music. But he’s (unbelievably!) forgotten about the great RD Burman, who, for instance in Logon na maaro ise, had three stanzas of the same tune (a wonderful high pitched start that falls into the chorus of Kaahe ko rootha deewana mera). The structure would go mukhda-chorus-interlude-mukhda-chorus-interlude and so on.
I’m sure similarly unfair things have been said about Rahman’s music too. It’s one thing to take Rahman’s music in the context (as I attempted to do) of Tamil/Indian music and see what the appeal is. But all this comparison business, after a point, merely gets exhausting with no resolution in sight. Sorry, but I just had to vent
“In the link above, there’s a clip where Rajeev Menon talks about composers earlier than Rahman couldn’t tailor their music to Hindi tastes.”
Oh that sort of thing happens with groupies all the time. For instance, at one point during the 80’s, it was freely bandied about that “Hindi paataiye kettu kondirundha tamizhnattai, tamizh paatttu ketka vaithaar Ilaiyaraja”. Primarily, this strand of thought emerged from his groupies. In their defence, they may be too smitten fans and talk without thinking so I’ll spare Rajeev Menon here.
But even though Anand Milind copied IR’s tunes succesfully and sold it to Hindi audience, you have to remember that IR did the same in movies like Mahadev and Kamagni but couldnt sell them. Now, the difference is IR stuck to his style of orchestration in these movies. The Anand Milind adaptations actually filtered the essence out of IR’s tamil songs and made some pathetic dholak-laxmikant-pyarelal interludes – which succeeded with the hindi audience. Now, the question is does that mean that IR couldnt adapt to Hindi audience? The answer is possibly yes. But would I have liked him to do what Anand Milind did to his songs just for him to succeed in a hindi market. The answer is no.
If you dont believe me, go back and hear the hindi version of O Priya Priya – the interludes which were the jeevan of the original song were replaced by pathetic wails and dholak stuff, the stanzas actualyl were a simplified tune etc. So, there seems to be some tweak done for the benefit of the Hindi audience there – some sort of simplification and dumbing down. The fact that Anand Milind succeeded with that dumbing down is what is the root of my contempt for Bollywood
Have you heard Aa Gaya Sapna Sach Koi Banke from Kamagni?
Baddy, I understand your venting since I share the same opinions but what confuses me is that neither the post nor I really attempted to compare IR with any other Indian composer. The content (that I liked) in the post merely highlighted IR’s ability to fuse genres beyond recognition of the original source. I wasn’t really coming from a recognition angle for IR. As you say, it’s pointless to ponder that. For all practical purposes, IR’s time for that might have gone by. To me, the real joy is when I listen to music that really engages and touches me (by any composer), even if I have my favorites.
And coming to the West accepting Indian composers etc, like I said, I do feel some pride when ARR bags the Globe etc but don’t believe for a moment that it needs to happen for him to be considered a great. Like you say, there is a matter of being at the right place at the right time.
BTW, ARR is performing on the Jay Leno show tonight (Feb 19). I think that is really cool…
There is one point in that link you have pointed out that I have always felt about some IR’s song. Suresh talks in the comment section about re-recording some IR songs with superior tech. avail today.
I would happily vote for that, there are lot of other songs(gems) which dont need htat but we could benefit from re-recording some beautiful songs like even Andi Mazhai and idhazhil kadhai ezhutum.(no it isnt my recording tat has the problems, i have heard these two songs in tv and various sources always notice in the instrumental parts).
raj: But then, Surmaii ankhiyon mein was very well received, and that was largely “uncorrupted.” And even the songs of Cheeni Kum found takers. But that’s not the point.
How do we know what IR would have done in Hindi cinema is he’d fully applied himself to Hindi projects, instead of half-heartedly tossing out tunes to B-grade films? How do we know what RD Burman would have done if he’d worked with the likes of Rakeysh Mehra and Bhansali? And conversely, what kind of music would ARR have produced had he been born in a “live orchestra” era?
There are no answers to these questions. So while it makes sense to compare/contrast ARR and S-E-L and Pritam and so on (or IR and Deva and Shankar-Ganesh, or RDB and Kalyanki-Anandji and L-P), theer’s no way you can cross generations and comapare and hope to arrive at a concrete thesis. That’s what my reply to Shankar’s comment was alluding to.
Shankar: Sorry dude
I wasn’t venting at you. It was just that whole west-recognition thingee that got my goat.
s: Yeah. Some of the early-80s songs — for instance, the ones where IR was beginning to fool around with heavy bass-guitar counterpoints — could really benefit from a tech update. That’s also part of what I mean. Had today’s technologies existed then, he could have “played” with the finished product and say, muted the sharpness of S Janaki’s voice in certain songs (in relation to the pitch of the orchestration and so on), like how Chinmayee sounds different in each song of ARR’s. I’m not talking from a “purity of music” standpoint, but from the end-product POV. Because if you consider the voice as a “tool,” you don’t see it can’t be played around with. That’s why there’s no point in comparing cross-generational composers, actors and so on.
For instance Kamagni – I dont know about the movie but Aa Gaya sapna koi sach banke doesnt seem to be a song for a commonplace situation in hindi movies – I dont find IR’s approach there different from Kiliye Kiliye(Malayalam). I dont know how interested he was in that project but he hasnt certainly offered anything to perceived differences of the Bollywood music hearing ear there.
Cheeni Kum could be defined as a bonafide success in that sense as you pointed out – even prior to that, he did the fabulous Shiva 2006 but that just didnt cut much ice with the Hindi audience.
Rahman can be given that much credit that he didnt alter his style but had tremendous success in Bollywood – in a way, we can say he managed to raise the standards in Bollywood whereas all I can say of IR is that he was way above prevailing Bollywood standards but couldnt get them up to his level.This is teh fault of the audience rather than the composer though.
Also, I understand that the fact that Rahman could is because of certain natural cross-audience-pleasing-elements already present in his style so it is not so much IR’s lack of competence that caused non-spectacular-acceptance of his music in Bollywood. Hence my point is the same as yours – that the comparision is meaningless. But it doesnt hurt to credit Rahman for achieving that result by whatever means.
After having taken the time and patience to read through some of your reviews and all the comments posted thereafter, i think i have come to a conclusion, oversimplified as it may seem…
In over-analysing(for lack of a better word) movies that don’t deserve it whatsoever you are only helping in lowering the standards of both the makers and the audience of the film, especially in the tamil movie ‘industry’ where the makers get away with shoving shoddy material down the audience’s throat, not least by acclamation that the makers have come up with something that has never ‘been attempted before’… oooooh aaaaah. This serves to reinforce the film makers’ belief that they can make gradually inferior movies and the ‘average’ audience will lap it up and the ‘above average’ audience will analyse it and help in proclaiming it a great movie of our times!
I’m sure many films that have ever come out in india will definitely look good on paper before they are actually made as films. But there is a reason why we want to see them as a series of moving images rather than as a string of words.
I can perfectly understand your problem of having to deal with whatever one can get their hands on(or in this case should it be one’s ears, eyes, heart and mind?) but that gives you no reason to call a mediocre film as innovative and path-breaking just because you are able to find some amazing metaphors(the third eye was a good one!) or allegories to mythologies and scriptures.
This has been said before but i’ll say it again. If the makers of a film have terrific ideas there should atleast be a semblance of it on the final product. Yeah sure we can read in-between the lines, and believe me, i myself am FOR the technique of leaving aspects of a story to the audience’s imagination, but at some instances it beats the higher purpose of having to actually sit through a film!
And before anyone jumps the gun i just want to say that no i don’t cringe when ‘disturbing’ images are shown on screen and i don’t whine when the ‘dark underbelly’ of our society is exposed to the world.
It is precisely my argument that if one can appreciate the efforts in exposing the truth for once then the same person shouldn’t shy away from calling a spade a spade.
End of rant.
Krishna, read BR’s Dilli-6 review for coming up with more rants
“If by “great films,” you mean films that 100% great — like 24-carat gold, no kalappadam — then I wouldn’t be able to call any film from any corner of the world great. ”
Really? I mean I can imagine a scene or two going awry in a great film but that doesnt certainly diminish its greatness.
I am sure you can find movies like that.
Whereas the stuff like the comedy track in Idhayathai THiru. the entire comedy track had gone awry and was not needed in the first place considering the tone of the film. Even as a standalone the track didnt work and was tasteless.That definitely pulls the movie short of whatever it wanted to achieve in my opinion(not that I think highly of Idh.Thir. even otherwise). The magnitude of the mistake is higher here in my opinion.
“And about Perarasu, if we look at his films with an open enough mind, they might actually be worth something. For us, we laugh at them because he is making masala movies in a film era where they are (mostly) passe,”
Making masala movies is’nt the issue. HOW he makes it is the issue. If someone wants to write thesis on Dravidian culture and masala movies there might be far better representative masalas than Perarasu’s stuff- like Shankar’s movies or SP Muthuraman’s old movies or Dharani’s earlier hits. Perarasu’s movies are a bad tasteless concoction of these earlier hits.
“ut now that you bring it up, there’s a difference between films that are plot-based (Shankar’s films) and character-based (Bala’s films). In the former, when you’re recycling the same plot with minor variations, it gets boring. (Of course, a better director would be able to pull this off — not Shankar.)”
BR I dont fully agree. There is a lot of difference between how the thatha goes about doing his business in Indian and how Arjun does it in Mudhalvan and how Vikram does it in Anniyan. These are 3 hugely different characters although their motives could remain the same. Even the screenplays are different(the one day chief minister stuff was a novel masala concept fully exploited
, the schizophrenia in Anniyan and pre-Independence era patriotic hangover combined with varma kalai in Indian ). This could partly explain why they were such big hits. Neither KS Ravikumar nor Perarasu can pack in so much ideas as Shankar does nor stage it as effectively as he does in their masala movies. Shankar packs in a lot of neat ideas/real-life inspired observations in his masala movies(like Ravi Bernard’s nerukku ner TV program finding its way into Mudhalvan). And he knows how to exploit them fully for their masala quotient.
Whatever differences in shades Bala brings about in his lead characters, I feel Shankar does the same to his screenplays and lead characters too. The difference between them is Shankar is more forthright about his masala ambitions and his movies
have the conventional happy masala resolution whereas Bala after Sethu has stuck to similar endings.
Bala’s interview in Jaya TV with Suhasini kind of vindicated my stance on him. Answering as to why he chooses to portray death and dark characters, all he could come up with was “jananga vidhyaasama edhirpaakaranaaga..adhukka andha maari oru charactera choose panna vendiya circumstance” or something like that…. Does this sound more like Hitchcock or like Shankar? I leave that to you.
Krishna: Whether the film deserves analysis (or over-analysis) is not the point. (How does one decide that, anyway?) With some films, you want to dig deep and figure out why the characters did what they did (or why the story does what it does). I found a lot of interesting things to think about in Rab Ne, for instance, even though it’s hardly the kind of film that “deserves” analysis.
Two, analysing a film doesn’t automatically mean it’s great, or that Bala DID INDEED put in all those things that I saw in the film. So my praising NK (based on “my” analysis) doesn’t mean it’s great in any absolute sense. Just that “I” found things in it to chew over. It’s just an approach to writing about films, literature, music and so on. I know a lot of people are very uncomfortable with this approach, because it is so personal (while the general impression of a “review” is that it is some sort of “universal” recommendation), but it works for me — and (more importantly) for my editor
Vijay: arrgghh.. you’re making me work very hard on this comment space
About Shankar’s films, Mudhalvan is genuinely good, IMO. The others are a rehash. Of course, the screenplay has to differ from film to film, but to me, the difference in the mere “methods” in which the characters execute their vigilante schemes (in the Shankar films) is a lesser achievement than the personality variations (on the same types) in the Bala films. I get the feeling of “people” in Bala’s films, whereas Shankar’s characters are just that – “characters” with entertaining quirks defined as per the screenplay.
Also, I wouldn’t put too much faith in what people talk about themselves in interviews. Artists, that way, are notorious. I refuse to believe, for instance, that bala’s personal life has nothing to do with his films.
“I refuse to believe, for instance, that bala’s personal life has nothing to do with his films”
.
Adhe, adhe. He can hardly explain in interviews on mainstream television(heck, television – as though non-mainstream television exists) how he got about filming the dope-snorting sequences, and how well he knows about that epxerience, can he?
Also, the necessity to pander to producers who would fund a movie like Naan Kadavul only if they believe it has masala elements, means that Bala has to throw such red herrings here and there just to keep them believing that his aim is to set the cash registers tilling and everything else is incidental – while the truth may be the exact opposite.
“whereas Bala after Sethu has stuck to similar endings”
Vijay, suggest a few alternate endings for Pithamagan and Nandha
“Also, I wouldn’t put too much faith in what people talk about themselves in interviews. Artists, that way, are notorious.”
Then, why are you doing interviews?
“the screenplay has to differ from film to film, but to me, the difference in the mere “methods” in which the characters execute their vigilante schemes (in the Shankar films) is a lesser achievement than the personality variations (on the same types) in the Bala films.”
what bigger variations you saw between Arya’s character in NK and Vikram’s in Pithamagan, than you saw between say Thatha in Indian and Arjun in Mudhalvan? I have not seen NK but from promos/clips seems my guess is it isnt much different from Vikram’s character. And not to forget, Vikram;’s character itself was full of the artifical “quirks” you talk about, to justify that he didnt have any connection with the outside world.Exaggerated quirks.And it was used for just comic effect in a lot of scenes.
Raj, I dont see why I should recommend changes. This is like me asking you how different you would have scored the BGM for RDB if you didnt like Rahman’s version
Anyways just for the heck of it:
Pithamagan is a masala unlike Sethu – so the ending has to be that way, I dont recommend any changes. Vikram HAS to kill the villian.
Nanda – the mother could have killed herself. Surya’s character is acquitted and everyone is happy and he thinks his mother would be pleased. He keeps talking to her, and doesnt get a response and then finds that she has poisoned herself. He will be left to think about it for the rest of his life. That his “punishment” since he yearned for his mother’s love the most.
Vijay; Very frankly, I only do interviews because I’m asked to. It’s always better to keep a distance from the filmmaker and engage only with the film. Otherwise it “corrupts” your viewing experience.
And I’m not naive enough to believe that a filmmaker is going to open up his soul to someone from the press. Case in point: the number of people who say they cast so-and-so because of X quality or Y quality. Only when you know the behind-the-scenes story will you realise that the real reason was that someone more famous wasn’t available. Interviews are a form of lies — entertaining, sure, and sometimes even insightful. But I’d never take the filmmakers intentions (from an interview) as the truth. That’s just me.
vijay, I actually liked your suggestion on Nandha
” …deserves analysis (or over-analysis)… (How does one decide that, anyway?)”
“…Rab Ne, for instance, even though it’s hardly the kind of film that “deserves” analysis.”
Hmmm…
“Just that “I” found things in it to chew over.”
It takes a lot of guts to say that unlike certain ‘other’ reviewers out there.
“It’s just an approach to writing about films, literature, music and so on. I know a lot of people are very uncomfortable…”
I certainly am not uncomfortable! I just wanted to get some things clear. That’s all. Thanks for the reply!
“Interviews are a form of lies…”
Whoa! You sound more frank than your Gautam ‘Vasudev’ Menon.
“And I’m not naive enough to believe that a filmmaker is going to open up his soul to someone from the press.’
Neither am I, but I dont believe that a director necessarily shuts out his thought process from the press completely either. I have read alot of interviews where the director has revealed his thought process and delved into what made him do that film. His influences and all that. Sometimes when caught in the right mood and depending upon who the reviewer is, they have bared their soul too.
I mean, to that question from Suhasini(who is not exactly a pushover when it comes to film crticism,although not my favourite) Bala could have easily answered “andha maari characters dhaan enakku interestinga irukku” or something like that right? That wouldnt have required a lot of soul-baring, even if it was’nt extremely insightful. Whereas his rather inspid and blunt answer makes me doubt that it is actually closer to the truth.
This interview notwithstanding, I do believe that atleast someone like Jayamohan’s writings could have influenced Bala, if not real life experiences.It is difficult to imagine him conjuring all this up out of vacuum. For that matter any creative artist is influenced. Even in Shankar’s masala movies you can see his middle-class angst coming to the fore.But am not sure if somewhere along the way Bala fell a prey to the trap of his own Sethu’s success.
And in fact in that same interview when Suhasini asked him as to whether he wrote the script first and then hunted for the beggar characters or was it done the other way. Bala readily confessed that he had wrote something else first but after observing the beggars he re-wrote it in order to highlight the individual talent he thought each one of those hand-picked beggars had. That kind of confession doesnt need a lot of soul bearing. And to another question on why death finds prominence in his films he replied “ellarukkume oru naalaikku adhu thaane madam” and then said that he thinks about it a lot.
A bit of Bala Through the eyes of JemO
http://jeyamohan.in/?p=1869
Vijay,
Actually what is your angst against Bala? Is it that you find him a mediocre director being hyped up unnecessarily! or is it that you find his films are all formulaic and boring?
For me he is the BEST director around who could mix both commercial and Art elements within a film perfectly balanced, that it will have the Grandeur of a Shankar’s film (Not the painting of roads/trees etc., but the larger than life image of the ‘Hero’) and the subtlety of a Mahendran/Balu Mahendra Film.
He has his own style of film making and he is being praised for that novelty alone. Its only his 4th film and he has long way to go. How many times have we raised this question against a Maniratnam / Balachander / Bharathiraja or anybody else who is regarded as great director that their films are all ‘Stereotypical’.
Bala has expressed wishes to make a commercial cinema soon. hope he will show the same amount of care and attention to detail in that movie too and teach the Shakars, Ravikumars and Perarasus.
Pulikesi pipped me on that link.. It answers some of the questions asked here. Do read…
http://jeyamohan.in/?p=1873
Some more explanations – to the point of killing it for those who interpreted in a different way
It does seem like some directorial decisions were the reason for perceived discontinuity. Whatever, you cannot blame the audience for not crossing the rubicon.
What was Jeyamohan thinking? It seems like he had written it like Amsavalli is converted to the big C religion, and the nuns end up selling her(implied not directly told) to Thandavan! What was he smoking, literally! No way Bala could have filmed it that way and released it. Erkanave Bala RSS-nu pracharam pandranga. ipdi ellam eduthirundha, Bala poota case dhaan.
He also implies that Rudran is disturbed by Amsavalli – and this hasnt come out at all in execution. JeMo says that Rudran is far from the finished Aghora – he is sent to Malaikottai by his GURU precisely because he hasnt seen any bandhams to renounce them – so he had to go back, face his mom, and understand and feel that bandham and then let go it. This neatly ties up some childish questions on as an Aghora why does he need to return to Malaikottai or why he is attached to his GURU – because he is far from the finished product aghora, silly. Not only that – JeMo implies that the scene where Rudran gets to face Amsavalli is a key one – which Bala intended to imply that he gets disturbed by the slightest iota of attraction to this woman, and he had to feel that to renoucnce that feeling as well. Eventually, his gruff rebuffs of his mother and detached treatment of Amsavalli are mechanisms for him to cope with his worldly feelings – and eventually liberate him from these. This makes a lot of sense. Not sure if it got translated on screen.
To me, this is probably the ONLY Tamil film which has got me thinking of various possibilities after getting back home. I can’t think of any other movie in Tamil which has done this to me. I have put my interpretations in my blog and they may differ a bit from what Jeyamohan had to say because I went by what was finally shown on the screen. What Jeyamohan says makes lot of sense if Bala had shown the interaction between Rudran and Amsavalli and Rudran being affected because of it. Since it was not shown I don’t think we can draw that conclusion from the film. As I said my take is different and that interpretation is based on what was actually shown in the movie.
All said and done, I have to completely disagree with Vijay in terms of this movie being like Bala’s previous movie. The movie making strategy is the same but the questions it asks are totally different. Unlike his other movies, the hero villain angle is not important at all. The major questions asked are about God and this is where is differs from Bala’s earlier films and from other Tamil films.
Reg what Krishnan wrote, if at all one Tamil film deserves an analysis, this is it. I really haven’t watched any Tamil film which focuses on death and God in the manner this film does. Bala camouflages all this by his way of film making maybe but the core of Naan Kadavul is far different from Bala’s other films. Where will Bala go from here? That will be interesting to watch.
Nan kadavul have raised lots of questions. It looks that it gives an atheistic message at the same time the back ground songs chant about Shivoham. This article is look at the symbolic meaning of nan kadavul.
Click on pradheep to read the article
Incase you didn’t catch this,
http://specials.rediff.com/movies/2009/mar/10slde1-bala-on-naan-kadavul-god-and-faith.htm
Doesn’t answer many. But, yes, a few.
got this via email
RTR: What exactly the author of the msg tries to communicate. The film is a great creation. The film will be a great success – people who do not understand GOD WILL want to see to understand and those who do understand GOD will se it because they do. So what say you, the writer of the article? and it is my humble opinon that U give a reply/response contact facility. GOD save U Ahamaiva Brahmaasmi!
Did you see this? http://specials.rediff.com/movies/2009/mar/10slde3-bala-on-naan-kadavul-god-and-faith.htm