Ethir Neechal (Swimming against the current, எதிர் நீச்சல் Tamil; 1968)
This is one of the few movies in which Nagesh, the evergreen comedian who jolts his shoulder at his every stroke of his punchline, assumes the role of the main character. The style of acting is reminiscence of his acting in his 1966 blockbuster Server Sundram, the self pitying, low self esteemed orphan who takes the brunt of everybody else's idiosyncrasies and loathing just because he is a lowly life form! An orphan, who has no soul to care and no money to his name. Again and again, this theme is ridiculed upon in Tamil movies for generations. The biggest insult in a child's life, it seems, is not knowing your parents' name. Scores, if not hundreds of movies have been made along this line.
Maadhu (Nagesh) is an orphan college student who stays below the staircase of a double storey house which houses at least 5 families. Maadhu is the run around kid who does odd jobs around the house in reluctant exchange for meagre food and the space under the stairs to stay. The occupants of the house all have different backgrounds.
Central to the story is a husband and wife team who brings in a young mentally girl Paro, (Jayanthi) and the wife's brother Thengai Srinivasan) to stay there. Next is a forever quarreling Brahmin couple (Pattu and Chittu) acted beautifully by Srikanth and Sowkar Janaki. Srikanth who had spates of stereotyping pea-brained negative roles in his acting career really show his true versatility here. His role of being a gossipy husband is memorable. Pattu is his cinema crazy wife who often quotes scenes from famous Tamil movie scenes does an excellent job as an inquisitive busybody.
Then there is Major Sunderarajan, a retiree, who has a soft spot for Maadhu. Muthuraman, a single Malayalee man (Muthuraman) stays on the top floor builds a friendly bond with him. Then there is the Kumarasen brother and sister team (Manorama and MRR Vasu) who are out to stir trouble at the lightest hint. Manorama, here does not act her usual well meaning comedienne but rather a fire brand loud trouble maker. A group of college student also occupy one of the rooms.
Trouble brews when Paro is matched to marry MRR Vasu but Chittu identifies her as a former inmate of a lunatic asylum. At the same time, small things begin disappearing and Maadhu is the fall guy to be accused of theft. Paro, the lunatic, even though recovered, is still labelled a lunatic and is matched to marry Maadhu as no one wants to marry as the news of her medical condition is general knowledge now.
In the sly, Maadhu and Paro discover genuine love.
One thing leads to another but Maadhu passes his examination with flying colours (1st class honours, what else). At about that time, a millionaire from Kuala Lumpur claiming to be Maadhu's long lost father who had realised his wayward ways coming knocking and wants to be with his long lost son.
Suddenly, all the occupants of the house wants to be Maadhu's best guardian hoping for a piece of his fortune. All of them bend over backward to appease Maadhu to be in his good books. Just then, everybody is told it is all a hoax, set up by Paro to get back at all the occupants of the house.
Finally, to cut the long story short, Maadhu gets a high paying job and marries Paro! A good entertaining if you do not mind the occasion melodrama and overacting that builds along the course of the film.
P.S. Amma used to say: When you laugh, everyone will laugh with you; when you cry, you cry alone. But FG says: When you laugh, everyone will laugh with you; when you cry, everyone will laugh AT you!
Story, Screenplay, Direction: K. Balachander
This is one of the few movies in which Nagesh, the evergreen comedian who jolts his shoulder at his every stroke of his punchline, assumes the role of the main character. The style of acting is reminiscence of his acting in his 1966 blockbuster Server Sundram, the self pitying, low self esteemed orphan who takes the brunt of everybody else's idiosyncrasies and loathing just because he is a lowly life form! An orphan, who has no soul to care and no money to his name. Again and again, this theme is ridiculed upon in Tamil movies for generations. The biggest insult in a child's life, it seems, is not knowing your parents' name. Scores, if not hundreds of movies have been made along this line.
In a way, this film is Balachander's social satire done in an almost full length comedy. It pokes fun at how the society takes in or abhors people based on their own preset ideals, depending on the conditions that suit their needs.
Unlike most Indian movies, this one is not your typical hero meets heroine, falls in loves, meets resistance and finally loves prevails kind of story. For a start, there are many important characters who play equally important roles for the continuity of the story line.
Unlike most Indian movies, this one is not your typical hero meets heroine, falls in loves, meets resistance and finally loves prevails kind of story. For a start, there are many important characters who play equally important roles for the continuity of the story line.
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| Pattu and Chittu |
Then there is Major Sunderarajan, a retiree, who has a soft spot for Maadhu. Muthuraman, a single Malayalee man (Muthuraman) stays on the top floor builds a friendly bond with him. Then there is the Kumarasen brother and sister team (Manorama and MRR Vasu) who are out to stir trouble at the lightest hint. Manorama, here does not act her usual well meaning comedienne but rather a fire brand loud trouble maker. A group of college student also occupy one of the rooms.
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| When in high stature, relatives would hang around like crows around food! |
In the sly, Maadhu and Paro discover genuine love.
One thing leads to another but Maadhu passes his examination with flying colours (1st class honours, what else). At about that time, a millionaire from Kuala Lumpur claiming to be Maadhu's long lost father who had realised his wayward ways coming knocking and wants to be with his long lost son.
Suddenly, all the occupants of the house wants to be Maadhu's best guardian hoping for a piece of his fortune. All of them bend over backward to appease Maadhu to be in his good books. Just then, everybody is told it is all a hoax, set up by Paro to get back at all the occupants of the house.
Finally, to cut the long story short, Maadhu gets a high paying job and marries Paro! A good entertaining if you do not mind the occasion melodrama and overacting that builds along the course of the film.
P.S. Amma used to say: When you laugh, everyone will laugh with you; when you cry, you cry alone. But FG says: When you laugh, everyone will laugh with you; when you cry, everyone will laugh AT you!
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