When cross dressing was a fad

Mrs Doubtfire (1993)


I could not help but tend to compare this movie with its copycat off-shoot, Avvai Shanmugi (1996) starring Kamalhaasan and the rib-tickling rolling on the floor witty script by Crazy Mohan.
Maybe because I had watched the latter and not the former, I found Avvai Shanmugi more of riot with gut rolling laughter. The plot in AS is more complicated. Maybe because it was a Tamil movie and nobody would watch any movie which last less than 2.5 hours (low on money worths' scale), they had to make the characters more deeply entrenched in the masala of seeing an attractive single working Indian lady!
The frequent tongue-in-cheek double speak dialogue penned by Crazy Mohan must have been the primary reason why Avvai Shanmugi reached enviable heights in modern Tamil cinema.
Mrs Doubtfire stars two great actors - Robin Williams and Sally Field. The movie won the Academy awards for Best make-up for that year but unfortunately did not impress the reviewers then as it itself was viewed as a copycat movie from Dustin Hoffman's 'Tootsie' (1982). Cross dressing was also seen in 1959's 'Some like it Hot' (Starring Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon). Rafoo Chakker was Bollywood's adaptation of 'Some like it Hot'.

O' Captain, my captain!

Dead Poet's Society (1989)

All of us had that favourite teacher in school who could motivate and connect with you. He would have been that sympathetic ear that could understand all the teenage angst that you went through. He probably would have also changed the direction of your future as you had struggle through the aimless journey in those trying years.
This coming-of-age film is one which depicts such a teacher.
 In spite of all turbulences that Robin Williams had to go through as he manoeuvred through the crypts of life, he managed to inspire many a teenager to indulge in poetry and literature when he took the role of an English teacher, Mr John Keating, in this movie. Many still remember the verses 'Carpe diem' and 'O' Captain, my Captain'.
Just like 'The Paper Chase' with Prof. Charles Kingsfield and his sarcastic remarks to his Year One Law Students, the dialogues exchanged between Mr Keating and his students is simply poetically entertaining.
In essence, Dead Poet's Society is a story about a group of first year of a preparatory school students, their teacher who motivates them into liking poetry and literature, a student who defied his father's wishes for him to become a doctor but become an actor, his heartbreak, his suicide and the final expulsion of Mr. Keating for inciting chaos to age old traditional practices of the school.
The film is filled with many heart wrenching poetic lines that are worth sharing.

Seize the day, Carpe diem!

You think you have got it made. You think you are perfect. That is what everyone aims for. And we all yearn to be THE one. Many want to leave their legacy behind, something for their descendants to feel proud of. Mythology repeatedly told over time from ear to ear over the years, got spiced up and snowballed to portray infallible characters, invincible, just, powerful and elevated to demi-God and God statuses.

As usual, my mind got thinking...
That could explain the many 'great' men (mahaans) and avatars of God who had graced and walked the land we stand on. Not to belittle the great deeds that they had done, there must be blemishes in their otherwise pristine time on Earth.

When Robin William passed on recently, the internet and social media were fluff with a flurry of messages praising him to high heaven. Many thanked him for the comedy and making the world a happier place. One even praised him in his role as a motivating teacher in 'Dead Poets Society'. If not for that film, he would not enjoy literature that much and pursued that line of career. Some highlighted the pathetic and helpless situation of being trapped in the world of the black dog. Despite duelling with manic depressive illness for a good part of his adult life, he still managed to live a full life.

The passing of an individual is always remembered by the good deeds done by them. The public generally likes to put a lid on their shortcomings, thankfully so. Maybe not for all- Hitler, Stalin, Atilla the Hun etcetera.

Wikipedia checkup did show a few unsavoury conducts by the actor exhibited. Besides his substance addiction which could be attributed to his illness, he had been the cause of his own marital disharmony. Imagine, how a pregnant wife would feel when your husband is sued by his extramarital tryst sues him for infecting her with herpes!

Despite all his shortcomings, he must have been good in other ways. He still has a cordial relationship with his daughter and a string of grieving fans. Rest in peace.
Life is a symphony with crescendos and fortissimos. The joy of music that emanates is precisely from these troughs and ploughs of notes.

A hunting they will go!

Good Will Hunting, 1997 Drama

An old write up. As a farewell to an extremely talented artiste who, despite his inner demons and the dark shadows of the black dog that haunted a good portion of his life, still came out tops as a world class entertainer. For the children of the 70s and 80s, Robin Williams was just part of our exposure to the world of comedy, starting with 'Mork and Mindy' to 'Mrs Doubtfire' to 'Good Will Hunting' to 'Dead Poet's Society' to 'Jumanji' and beyond. RIP.

This multiple award winning film is a heart wrenching saga of a gifted individual trapped in the conundrum of poverty, unsavoury upbringing and living environment that stunts his personal development.
It is set in Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston where Will Hunting (Matt Damon), the protagonist is a janitor. He is also a prodigy who has a photographic memory who enjoys reading and learning multiple subjects. Unfortunately, his fate of being born in a dysfunctional to an alcoholic abusive father erased the chances of his ability being discovered and nurtured. He is living in the wrong side of the city, moving with simple minded friends who are more interested in getting drunk and bedding girls. Will had got into the wrong side of the law on numeral occasions.
Professor Gerald Lambeau is a mathematics professor who enjoys pasting difficult mind boggling mathematics questions on the board in the corridors for his students to solve. Will, the janitor, is found to be solving these extremely difficult questions and Professor decides to go on a crusade to turn Will useful for the world to benefit from his Godly gift.
As Will is behind bars when the good Professor found him, he made a deal with the presiding judge to be his guarantor and engage a therapist for the young man to reform. Professor discovers his true genius in solving Mathematic equations but prove too cocky and slippery to the liking of many regular psychiatrists.
Finally, the Professor approaches his old roommate, Dr Sean Maguire (Robin Williams), a psychology lecturer in a community college. He has his own baggage. 2 years after losing his wife to cancer, he is still living in her memory and shuns fame and limelight. Sean agrees to counsel Will, after realizing that Will and he had similar family background. After a couple of stormy sessions, he managed to have a breakthrough, talking about common interest like baseball and the demise of his wife.
In the meantime, in midst of his work in MIT and therapy sessions, Will is romantically linked with a rich MIT student, Skylar, who is studying to be a doctor. Will’s tumultuous childhood impedes his commitment to a steady long term relationship with her. The Professor’s numerous attempts to get Will into a permanent job proved futile due to Will’s disinterest. He does not see the meaning of doing all these but rather enjoys his time with his simple minded friends. It came to a point that he leaves therapy sessions, ends his romantic relationship and be absent from his MIT work.
It is when he started working as a construction worker that his friend (Ben Affleck) realizes that he has an asset that is enviable. His friend confides that he is jealous of Will’s ability and would trade places with anytime to enjoy the good life.
Will returns to a ground breaking therapy where the therapist and patient discover that they were both victims of child abuse. Will starts his new job and drives to California to rekindle his lost romance in Skylar.
‘Good Will Hunting’ tells us how a child with improper upbringing fails to achieve his true potential. Like Mozart and Einstein, children with special gifts need to be discovered and encouraged. If everyday living is a struggle, their interest would be channeled negatively through defence mechanisms that focus on short term enjoyment and escapism. The world would be at a loss of these geniuses. It is not a matter of telling these prodigies of their shortcomings and making them realize of their assets, they need to be tackled appropriately. Change must come from within themselves. No amount of nagging and pushing is going to turn the other side.