Just enjoy the experience.

Jailer (2023)
Director: Nelson Dilipkumar

This is a Thalaiva movie. Period. Nobody else matters. A trip down memory lane of what stunts he could do and how he managed to maintain a fanbase after all these years is all that made the difference. It did not matter that the services of all the great Indian actors from all char dhams of Indian cinemas had made a cameo appearance here. It is immaterial that Padaiappa’s arch nemesis, Neelambari, is made to look like a lizard on the wall, clicking occasionally. Who cares about the holes in the fantastical storyline that would make a schoolboy cringe? It is Rajnikanth. Superstar is back!

This is what I missed wondering why everyone was praising Rajni’s latest release to high heaven. Even the usually level-headed ones are also pulled into the merriment. It is not about the story or realism. It is an experience, an immersion, and something entrenched in the psyche. Blame it on Tamil Nadu’s early politics and the involvement of screenwriters, musicians, actors and lyricists with local leaders; cinema is not only an escape route to the mundane, unsettling daily lives but a direction towards how the state should be.

Overall, a Tamil masala movie embodies what life is, how justice should be served and what the philosophy of life is all about.

A lot of responsibilities were placed on the shoulders of Nelson Dilipkumar after Rajnikanth’s past few performances have not really been outstanding. Nelson is a newcomer with previous successes in action thrillers with dark humour.

The recurring opening intertitle since the 90s.

Per his usual persona, Rajni appears as a benign and unassuming retiree jailer who carries life performing his prayers, playing with his grandson and doing work around the house. He morphs into a fire-breathing dragon (@dinosaur - a side joke in the movie), just like in Basha when his son, a police officer, goes missing and is apparently put down by baddies. He does not have to create a new punch dialogue, as reminiscing his previous lines is already more than adequate.

Jailer Muthu assumes his previous avatar of a ruthless prison warden to settle the score with all the gangsters around town. He uses his remote-control tactics to mobilise his reformed gang leaders to help him out. Rajni just has to slit a few throats and fire a few shots. He does not have dance in set dances. All Muthu has to do, is wave his spectacles and snap his fingers.

That is Thalaiva for you. A must for die-hard fans who yearn for the serotonin-infused feeling they felt during Rajni’s blockbusters of the 80s, Murrattu Kaalai and Muthu, for one. It does not matter if it defies logic. It is an experience. Indulge. Nerupudaa! Atharluthuleh? ஆதரத்துலே?

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Unchain these shackles?

Met up a couple of guys during my last trip to a God-forsaken (definitely not God's country as it had suffered too much carnage to be under the patronage of any supernatural force) place. Cracking up small talks amid this idyllic setting and too much time to spare, I came to realise that they were in no hurry. In fact, they had no plan. They decided their life as they went along, depending on the side of the bed they got up on that day. A few were on long sabbatical with no job to go back to.

One particular couple had been disillusioned with the trappings of modern living and the lie perpetuated by their employers, the pharmaceutical companies, to the rest of the world that they decided to go on a soul-searching experience in Indo-China, Thailand, India and subsequently plan to settle down manning a simple guesthouse somewhere in Central America!

Another guy decided one day when he got up from bed to have a revelation that he was wasting his time with pressure cooker work and lifestyle. (Much like how Doc had a knock of his head and thought of the 'flux capacitor' in 1955 in 'Back to the Future'.) He had a garage sale to sell off all his belongings including his Porsche and Ferrari and decided to move lock, stock and barrel (of what was left) to Bangkok. He, however, is still trying to get rid of his wife! He now lives day to day, moving from town to town, watching people, experiencing the life, sounds and smells of all of them. He finds this experience liberating. He says that this gives him meaning to his existence!

They make it sound so easy. Like a sage embarking on a pilgrimage at the drop of a hat. As if there are no familial commitments, social obligations and filial duties to perform. That may be the exact problem with us. That we are led to lead, indoctrinated, to live structured lives. We are expected to follow the paved path most travelled with the least resistance to mimic the same mundane, uninteresting lives that our ancestors were made to tread within the confines of their vicinity. For our forefathers, the limit of their experiences was bound by the edge of the shores and the heights of the unscalable mountains. On the contrary, our imagination and the borderless world with the ease of transportation make us all crave for insatiable experience and more experiences. The only thread that seems to drag our desire is the invisible bond of duty expected of us. We are supposed to work unabatedly for a rainy day as we never know when it might pour. We are expected to be physically present to provide emotional support to the offspring. There is an unspoken expectation for us to care for our elders. With all these duties hanging above head like the sword of Damocles, the last thing on mind is a bit of self-indulgence and guilty pleasures! There is no need to find the meaning of life, they say. It is all simple truth, as mentioned by our existence. Your birth on Earth is for the continuity of the species. Period. There is no place for individualism!@#