Guru is Aviator

The latest talk that goes with GURU in Chennai should be Azhagiya Thamizh magan "GURU". (What a majestic parfamanz by thalapathy?) This GURU is Manirathnam's "GURU" and of course you all know AVIATOR. I believe every film maker gets his/her script or the base crux for the movie from either of the following two options.
1) A novel / Short Story or other forms of literature.
2) A sequence or scenes from another movie/ play or other visual media.
( Very rarely do people make a film out of nothing. Again, I believe so..)

So, I have this rather "this scene/sequence/character may be inspired from that film" sort of connecting behavior. Some find them to be rather stupid outwardly.

like this one. "Bommarillu", a Telugu movie which is now remade into Tamil under the name "Santhosh subramaniyam", starring Jeyam Ravi could be possibly inspired by the amazing "Finding Nemo". The reason being, the crux for both the movies is Over parenting. Some do not accept this because of simple logic. How would a south Indian movie maker get inspired to make a story of a happy family from a Animation movie which deals with the lives of fishes? இப்டி தான் மடக்கி புடுராங்கப்பா.

Or try this one. Many think that Avvai shanmughi is inspired by or to be honest acquired from Mrs.Doubt fire. But, the affairs that Shanmughi maami has ( Mudhaliar, Viswanatha Iyer) is very similar to the affiars that Dorothy Michaels has in TOOTSIE.

May be this one is closer. The character Sasi is heavily drafted upon Kay corleone of Godfather II. At least the sequence where Sasi does an abortion of her own child should be the inspiration for that character's birth.

So, in the list, the latest entry is AVIATOR's comparison with Guru. I should say something for sure. Indian cinema is a larva if Hollywood is a Butterfly. It has to cross a long way to be at least compared with Hollywood. The statement said above is very very true, but the reason for that statement is a deadlock of various issues.

O.K. The reason why I say that Mani should be inspired from Aviator to form Guru is as follows.
1) Aviator is directed by Martin Scorsese. This Guy is just awesome. Just Awesome. I don't know where he fits in the league of extra ordinary directors in Hollywood. So, a great like Mani should be inspired by the work of another great.
2) The concept of the movie. Both are almost Biographies of two men., In fact, two Entrepreneurs.
3) Both of them are period films.
4) Both the movies revolve around real life characters.
5) Both of the movies are politically based to some extent.
6) And Your honor, Here comes my main witness. The climax of the movie. In both the movies, the protagonists are interrogated in court in the climax. And to be more clear, both of them are handicapped in some way and they overcome them in this climax sequence which is supposed to show the courage and fierceness of the protagonist.

Having said the connections between the two movies, now I ask myself, which of the two is the better movie? Clearly and very clearly, it is AVIATOR. My God, if somebody say Gilli or Okkadu is known for pacy screen play, they should watch this movie. My God, Di caprio rocks. He is one among the very few white chocolate boy heroes I like. He rules the screen with his presence. Abishek also gave an impressive performance. His emotions when he sits next to his wrist-slain chacha ( I believe so) and his reactions when his brother-in-law reveals to aishwarya-rai (guru's wife) that Guru married her for the sake of dowry are amazing.

Perhaps, it is the characterisation of the protagonists and the other characters that makes the difference between the two films. Howard Hughes is an eccentric guy and despite his father has left his a lots of wealth, he does not seem to enjoy them spending luxuriously. In fact, when he has dinner with the wealthy family of Katherine,her mother, considering herself a socialist, tells him that "we don't care about money," he shoots back, "That's because you've always had it," in effect exposing the Hepburns as snobs and hypocrites. He has an hearing problem and he is affected with OCD which gives Dicaprio an enormous chance to portray the character meticulously and at the same time in a grandeur manner. But the background and the development of GURU's early life is very simple, except for his angry father. It is true that he is a simpleton. There could still be some more care taken on this.

Now, among the reasons which I quote for saying that Guru stands next to aviator is the climax scene. Guru, who is affected by paralytic stroke speaks fluently in the emotional climax scenes and exactly after finishing his verses, his mouth gets the bad shape again. Come on, show the true color of the man in distress. If he is weakened by some illness, he has to be brave enough to accept it first and then overcome it. When one of the antagonists, Mr.Brewster in a public hearing tries to humiliate a hearing impaired Hughes by repeating his words and asks " Does this bother you?", Hughes bravely replies "No problem sir, Everyone knows that I have a hearing problem". Also, when Hughes fights the group of conglomerates single handedly (al though Ava helps him to get into better shape, he faces the hearings himself), Guru is a bit weaker as he is supported by his Wife throughout the hearings. (In fact, she has a bunch of punch dialogues).

Again, Like all other mani films, he wants to force an end. (In Ayudha eZhuthu, he has tried a bit different). He doesn't look to believe in climaxes that doesn't end a story. Like Bombay, Dil se, here again for the sake of showing the protagonist's win, the climax dialogues have a lot of non-sense references. Also, the film has a lot of mani-touches though it is no more unique to show them as mani-touches. Some of them are the Feel-good and Feed-hope concept by showing children singing hope songs, heroine enjoying in rain ( I swear on my mother that out of all the land I have travelled, never I have seen a woman enjoying herself getting wet in rain.), romance between the main pair. ( The saving point was the chemistry between Abishek and Aishwarya).

On the other hand, after his victory in the public hearings at a celebrating party, Hughes feels that the darkness still surrounds him, and he knows that madness due to the OCD is inevitable As the film ends, he keeps muttering "the way of the future...the way of the future", emphasising the link between his business genius and his mental illness. Cool man.

O.K I believe that this ending may not be the best recipe for the Indian audience, but GURU is not the best recipe from MANI. I accept the facts. I have stopped nagging about the songs in Indian movies. O.K.. I believe that Indian movies are known for them being musical and fine, but isn't it time for at least some changes in the characterisation of atleast the main characters.

Guru has it's own positive areas which Aviator lacks. Mani is known for the way of showing both the sides of the argument in a unbiased way. Like in Roja, (Nasser-Madhubala sequence) here also he shows the characters of Guru and Nanaji in an unbiased manner.

Feel good?

Recently, I had a chance to view my first ever French movie "Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain, Le" (in short, Amelie). There was some high recommendations from some intellectual sources (who else can be my intellectual sources, Gnana தான்) and also from IMDB.It is such a good film that it's quality exceeds the threshold of being reviewed by me. I try to blog this for a different purpose.
Whenever I watch a good foreign movie, I always get a question in my heart - Why can't India produce or accept such movies? Why don't we accept or enjoy such down to earth, yet awesome trends? Well, this movie brought more questions about Indian movies.
To Start with, here is Amelie's story in a short version.
Amélie is a story about a young girl, named Amélie whose childhood was suppressed by her Father's concerns of a heart defect. With these concerns Amélie gets hardly any real life contact with other people. This leads Amélie to resort to her own fantastical world and dreams of love and beauty. She later on becomes a young woman and moves to the central part of Paris as a waitress. After finding a lost treasure belonging to the former occupant of her apartment, she decides to return it to him. After seeing his reaction and his new found perspective - she decides to devote her life to the people around her. Such as, a failed writer, a hypochondriac, a man obsessed with a gnome, a man who stalks his ex girlfriends, the "ghost", a suppressed young soul, the love of her life and a man whose bones are made of glass. But after consuming herself with these escapades - she finds out that she is disregarding her own life and damaging her quest for love. Amélie then discovers she must become more aggressive and take a hold of her life and capture the beauty of love she has always dreamed of.
A good review by a Mr.Spragg_s ( I stole this because as i said earlier this blog is not a review of Amelie.)
It is praised as one of the best feel good movies ever and with my knowledge about feel good movies limited to Vikraman's, Yash chopra's, Karan Johar's movies, i can reassure that a 100 times. This is what is supposed to be a feel good movie. Basically, a feel good movie is just not a movie that ends in a positive, encouraging tone , but it is that starts and goes on with that. The good thing about Amelie is that the fact that she volunteers herself to bring smiles and happiness in her friend's and everyone's lives in her day-today life. And again the beauty is the reason why she chooses it. She finds a lost treasure of a kid who lived some 30 years back in her apartment and she plans to give it back to him only to make a choice of her life- If the treasure brings a change in the man's life she will become a regular do-gooder and if not be more of an introvert. (in which she chooses the first option.)
Well, for a reader who has not witnessed the magic of Amelie ( கொஞ்சம் over தான்), the immediate question will be " Have you not seen Poove Unakkaga (Tamil) or Kal Ho na Ho (Indian) or any of Karan Johar's movies?" Mmm, the difference between the Indian feel good movies to Amelie is simply it is very simple and yet so graceful and characterised to perfection. If not clear, here are my reasons.
1) A do-gooder need not be an extrovert as Shahrukh-khan in Kal-Ho-Na-Ho who is liked by everyone in the neighborhood for his extra-ordinary skills of being cool even in harder times. Amelie on the other hand is an introvert to that extend that even when her lover (whom she has been longing for) asks if she is the one who is behind the lot of things that has happened in his recent past, she says "No" just because she do not have any idea of how to go forward after she says Yes to him. This is in precedence to the Famous "Melting down" of Amelie where in despair of just losing a great chance, Amelie sighs like a furnace and melts down like water.
2) The do-gooder need not have a bad past to start his career as a do-gooder. Like having blood-cancer or chronic heart condition or a love-failure ( which is as worse as the other two). In the case of Amelie, the bad part of her life is her childhood where she is considered to be having a heart disease ( I had a bad craze to learn French just to get the actual,full view of the commentary that goes during these scenes.). Apart from that, her life takes a turn only when she finds the lost treasure of the kid.
3) Doing good is not as complex as saving a bankrupt family business or bridging the gap between two extremes of characters or to act as a non-existing character to fight for a true love (even though the lady love was someone whom you are longing for) (whooh, too difficult to narrate even in words.) Doing good is something that can be done by bringing a change in the blind man' s normal day by describing how the day really is. ( This scene is very short, crisp and yet amazingly long in thoughts and feel-good ness).

Hoping these three points fetch me enough points to prove my original point- There is still no feel-good movie in India still now,I go towards the other reasons why I've fallen in love with Amelie.
1) Audrey Tatou- This cute actress who has also played the Agent Sophie Neveu in Da Vinci code. If only you recognised the face immediately in either of the movies ( after seeing the other movie) in only 5 minutes, you can go ahead and apply for this post. Her face is so cute and the her smiles are so kiddish and cute and she looks no more than 18 to me.
2) Paris - The romance is in the air. The art and the architecture is simply amazing and it has topped my list in my Honey-moon destinations. Though I'm no world-traveler, I truly believe that Europe has a more natural Life-style than the more-artificial American lifestyle.
3) Color treatment- The color treatment of the movie is cool. In most of the movie, the frames will be tinted with green, yet you will not find it to be irritating or monotonous. It is purely because of the shades that they have used through out the movie. For example, in the scene when her father plants the gnome in the garden, the green tint will be very light and in the scene where she finds her love in the tunnel-rail station searching for photos, the shade is a bit darker.
4) Again, Audrey tatou.. Oh my God. She is so cute.

I found some critics found this movie a bit unrealistic for its depiction of a picturesque vision of contemporary French society, a postcard universe of a bygone France with few people from ethnic minorities . If the director was trying to create an idyllic vision of a perfect Paris, the critics argued, he seemed to think that it was necessary to remove nearly all black people from the scene in order to do so. Also, it has been rejected by Cannes as it is "Uninteresting". But I really loved this movie.

கல்யாணமாம் கல்யாணம்

When i started this blog, i was in one karai, now i'm in another karai. Once one of the greatest philosophers told " Writing blog is like chewing a chewing-gum. It is sweet in the start. But as u proceed, your teeth gets tired of chewing it. (That philosopher is none other than Our sammu boy). Lots of things happened between the time when i initially drafted it to the time i'm posting it. Especially my notions about persons like shyam is entirely changed. Will blog that seperately.

Here's what i started actually.



Well, I have nothing else to start apart from saying “Time is running at an unbelievable pace”. It is speeding at such a pace that the boy who was among a real set of amateurs is really finding it difficult to attend all the marriages for which he is invited to. ஐயையே ! ஒரே கஷ்டமப்பா ! நான் வரலேன்னா தாலியே கட்ட மாட்டேங்கறாங்கப்பா ! I'm attending a lot of marriages these days even if my presence is not really needed there. I'm just adding some photos that some of my regular blog grazers would love to have a look at. (If needed, you can download it. These photos are not copyrighted.)



This is Thiruchenduran. Hope most of you remember him. We (JSK and me) attended his sister's marriage and did our regular duties. I did not take the photos of the couple. Cellphone வச்சு Scene போடறதுக்கு ரொம்ப வெக்கமாவே இருக்கு டா.Now that thiru's sisters are married, there are no legal or family obstacles for thiru to marry.




Though this photo is not of much importance here, just to remind you of our class sallai, I’m posting his ஓரளவுக்கு recent photo here. I need another blog to explain his sallai when we traveled from egmore to his uncle's home. ஐயையோ ! எனக்கு அமெரிக்கா வ பத்தி சும்மா புட்டு புட்டு வச்சான் டா. அட அட அடா ! என்னா ஒரு slang ?, என்னா ஒரு style?. இனிமேல் யாராவது அமெரிக்கா போகணும்னா please contact shyam for geo-understanding.

அடுத்தாக நாம் காணவிருக்கும் கல்யாணம், நமது மூதாதையர் கல்யாணம். ம்ம். நம்ம seniors archana, sanjeeth marriage. We ( Karthik srnivas and me) went and met some interesting friends. It was really a fun-filled occasion.







Marriages are supposed to be a get together for a family and I witnessed a lot of happiness inside the mandapam. An overwhelmed grand-mother ( not sure whether of sanjeeth’s or archana’s) was full of tears when she sprinkled flowers with wishes from her heart. Sanjeeth was as cool as always. I never got a chance to talk with archana. Of course, she was joyous. Her sari color was too good. As a good topping to a tasty icecream, the பந்தி சாப்பாடு was too good.

Next, in our list comes the marriage of Vasudevan Santhanakrishnan. யாருடா அதுனு முழிக்கறீங்களா ? நம்ம gnanu வோட அண்ணா டா. Without an ounce of sarcasm I say this, “It should be really bad for gnanu to miss such an occasion to one of his dear ones. “ I really feel for you da Gnanu, சத்தியமா joke அடிக்கலே டா.” (ச்சை ! நான் ஒரு matter serious ஆ பேசனும்னா எவ்ளோ build-up குடுக்க வேண்டி இருக்கு.)





சாரதி ய தான் photo எடுக்க மறந்துட்டேன். பரவால்ல. Not much difference.


Believe me guys; it is Karthik srinivasan and mahadevan there. It was due to my extremely brilliant photographic sense I brought them into the frame.


Now see here. You have to congratulate goki for his extra-ordinary talent. Just look at this photograph. It captures Vasu’s would-be asking him to wipe the ஜொள்ளு and vasu doing the same. (wiping his ஜொள்ளு). I do accept this is not a commendable work to get lauds from you lords. But look closely. You will find the difficulty goki would have faced in capturing these snaps. So many photographers. Ooooh ! ஏம்பா ! Assistant cameramen. நோட் பண்ணுங்கப்பா !



இது என்னடா ! சும்மா film roll சரியா work பண்ணுதான்னு check பன்றியான்னு கேக்கறவங்களுக்கு ஒரு கேள்வி. உங்களுக்கு Santhosh guru தெரியுமா ? இந்த photo ல அவன் இருக்கான். அதோ ! அந்த மஞ்ச சட்ட போட்ட குழந்தைய மிரட்டரானே !! அவன் தான். போதும் டா! ஒரேடியா பாராட்டாதீங்கடா !



இது நம்ம S.P.B டா. என்னா lighting effect பாத்தியா ! எப்படி ?

Death Sentence

Well, the topic has no relevance of any sort with Saddam Hussein or Afzal or with dhara Singh. This death sentence that i try to write upon is different. It is the death sentence that many of us may not adjudge by the name that I’ve called it. It is the death sentence that has been justified all through the Indian cinema.(Kollywood, Tollywood, Bollywod). Yes! I’m talking about the capital punishment that personifies anger in the youth in this sensation-driven nation. O.K, O.K, too much build-up for a villain. This is about the way the Indian police end the cases that they cannot end legally. POLICE ENCOUNTER.

The Indian Penal Code gives a special clause to protect a murderer from being punished for protecting himself. In such a case, if the murderer doesn't involve in a conspiracy or if the MENS REA (Pre-planning) could not be proved, the acquitted could even get released. (Of course, this doesn't depend on the circumstances or the various clauses in the IPC, but on the advocacy of the lawyer). I guess Mr.Ambedkar's period wouldn't have had encounters, provided the extra clause in the IPC that doesn't allow the judiciary or the police to even initiate action on the police officials when the police show evidence that the encounter was done to protect themselves.

Yes! Yes. I do not know the difficulties that a true passionate police man faces in his career. I have not faced a ruffian or have faced problems due to them. But still, this action could never have any strong justification in response to the costliest possession in a man's life-LIFE. As per the saying "Necessity is the mother of Invention", this style of finishing a case should be invented by those officials who should have faced extreme difficulties with those evil men who pose an intense threat to the society. While the main question is "Is this a correct option?", there arises many sub-questions with it "Has it really solved the purpose?", "Is it used only for the prime intended purpose?". While the main question is as controversial as "Indian educational Reservation system", "The Burga in Great Britain", the sub questions remain unanswerable by any single individual.

The very sad fact is that this human rights exploitation being seen as an extremely efficient option to curb the social evils is an insult to the thinking process of this country. In fact, it possesses a hidden danger in itself by providing chances for iterating the crimes. However evil the murderer, rapist, terrorist may be, the only chance that lies in front of him to realize his crimes and it's after-effects is to give him time and the proper environment. Well, there lies another hurdle before me. "If the criminal is influential enough to escape his punishments"! This is of course the prime reason that pro-encounterists charge upon. This is not such a minuscule social evil that this blog can give an answer to. But here comes the vision that each individual should opt for. If he opts for a shorter vision, he cleans only the tile where he stands not seeing the whole floor is stained. When he opts for the longer vision, he takes measures to clean the floor, even though he couldn't walk in a cleaner floor.

This act even goes personal for the police men. RETRIBUTION. What is the difference between the thug and the police when both their acts are similar except the fact that the later wears a government uniform? What big difference has Raghavan made to the society when seeks vengeance on the thugs who killed his wife except for a few whistles from the front rows?

As you see the second question's answer shows the point that ENCOUNTER is used as a weapon not just to create a sense of danger among the ruffians but also to create potential criminals. In south tamil nadu, petty criminals are black-mailed that they will be encountered if they do not turn themselves towards wealthy crimes. Also this seems to be an easy option for politicians to solve some of their political issues.

The way encounters are projected in southern films is one of the examples that it hasn't come out of it's shell and it at any one fine part of the film has to compromise for the mass factor and there by increase the 'i' (imagination--Non-reality)value in a COMPLEX film (a+ib). Take for example the reason that Anbuchelvan give to justify encounters, the cost to proceed legal action against a criminal to be payed by the taxpayers. "ஒரே புல்லெட் ! இப்போ வித்யா சந்தோஷ படுவாள்ள ?" . But the liberty that the bollywood audience give to their film makers has made this 'i' value in it's complex value if not zero at least lesser than the former 'i'. In the film 'Ab tak Chappan', when a junior officer after an encounter asks nana patekar "Isn't it a crime ?". Nana patekar questions back "Is killings by the indian army men a crime?” Of course, baffled by such a stupendous response, the Jr.officer replies "But they are enemies". Now, our man gets serious "How do they know?” Not understanding where this conversation is leading, the Jr.officer replies "Their seniors". Now our man with that famous sinister smile in his face replies "You are right. We get our orders from our seniors and we perform it. There are no reasons or justifications here."

கதை கேளு, கதை கேளு

Always had a doubt on whether Santhana Bharathi, Singeetham seenivasa rao, is as talented as the likes of their contemporary greats like Mani, Bharathi raja. They have taken various classic comedies and some melancholy, extra ordinary classics and those scripts don’t have anything similar except for one man Kamala hasan. So, Is it really true that kamal uses these directors as just ghost directors and just for the fame of their names. If so, as a kamal fan, I’ll strongly object it because I don’t believe the name KAMAL is fewer crowd pulling or less charismatic or less familiar than the other names.

I have heard that Mr.Singeethem is known for the fame of making trick shots like vital acharya. So, is it the reason why kamal should have opted this man? Remember all the kamal movies directed by Singeetham needs trick shots ( Aboorva sagotharargal, Michael madana Kama Rajan, Mumbai Express, Kadhala Kadhala). Also, Singeetham is quite a fame in telugu industry. Kamal also known for his business mind could’ve used it to lure the telugu crowd.It would be quite faulty to add K.S.Ravikumar among the likes of these. I have a slight instinct that he wouldn’t have been used as another ghost director. And what about Santhana bharathi? Mm.. though I want to be centric, (I’m alien to the real cinema world) I cannot avoid shrinking my whole face when I see Santhana bharathi as the director in the title card of “GUNA”. அப்போ , அன்பே சிவம் director ? அய்யோ ! அய்யோ !

In Michael, madana, kama rajan just after the end of the title card song (“Bioscope ல கதை கேளு, கதை கேளு ) , the father of the wealthy madan hangs his son’s portrait (செம smart பாஸ்) in the background and in the foreground the title card flashes “Direction : சிங்கீதம் சீனிவாச ராவ்”.

Any உள் குத்தம் friends ?

காமம்

Recently, I heard the rarely occurring decent, but still lustful lyrics in Tamil cinema:

தண்ணீர் விடு என்று தோட்டம் சொல்லாதே.புரிஞ்சிக்க நீயாக!

(Courtesy: மச்சக்காரி from சில்லுனு ஒரு காதல்)

The all-time best in this genre will be:

சிந்திய வெண்மணி சிப்பியில் முத்தாச்சு, என் கண்ணம்மா

(Film: பூந்தோட்ட காவல்காரன்)

Any addition guys ??

Okka doubt machis

Remember the scene in “Thulluvadho ilamai” where dhanush is doubted by his father “Thalai vasal” vijay for his late-coming to home?

Now, whom do you blame here? The father for not believing in the son who comes late just because he spent time with his friend for studying Visual basic, (Computer இல்லாம Visual Basic படிக்க முடியாது. அவங்க வீட்ல தான் computer இருக்கு. Visual Basic தெரியலனா இந்த வருஷம் Fail ஆக வேண்டியது தான்.) or the son?

Rewind the film back. Just a couple of scenes back, when dhanush and shereen converses regarding studying the lessons by following time-tables, dhanush regrets for taking the biology group saying this is too tough for him and only because shereen asked him to do so, he picked this group.
Shereen: Doctor மகேஷ் எப்டி இருக்கு ?
Dhanush: ரொம்ப கேவலமா இருக்கு.

I (did my biology group) never needed any computer course to pass my HSC examinations. Leave me, (past generation) even my cousin (also Biology group) who did his HSC examinations this year did not need any such courses and he has got an engineering seat in PSG.

Is Dhanush guilty? Was this Selva raghavan’s home work mistake? Is selva too brilliant in placing such intrinsic scenes to show that dhanush indeed is guilty? Was this scene taken just to allure the adolescents’ who are in a mindset to blame their parents for all their failures?