RIFLE RANGE BOY

Vishwaroopam II (Tamil, 2018) Okay, we get it. The Tamilian diaspora has spread its tentacles to the four corners of the globe. The only problem is that the world is almost spherical and has no corners. Everywhere one goes, much like Men at Work's 'Down Under', one is bound to see a fellow Tamilian, not just as among the blue collared strata but amongst the upper echelon of the food chain. But I sense that the moviemakers hint of a particular bias in their caste of these characters. Most, if not all of them, speak with a certain intonation and lingo specific to those in the Brahmin community! But Tamil in Afghanistan...? We also understand that our girls, who used to be typecast as long-haired well oiled exotic beauties and hidden gems of intrigue behind their charming smile are no longer that demure and quiet one anymore. The Tamilachis have answered Bharatiyaar’s call for that modern thinking woman. They have permeated into all fields of knowledge, including defus...

Unnal Mudiyum Thambi (உன்னால் முடியும் தம்பி, You  can do it Brother, Tamil; 1988) Direction: K. Balachander A young Brahmin boy is busy chanting hymns under his breath as he walks to the temple lake to perform his daily abolitions. He sees a blind, hungry beggar struggling to pick up a piece of banana thrown for her. He can see that she is going to fall off the stairs, but he does not help her. He does not want to break his ritual. Another beggar who sees the whole scenario helps her but admonishes the boy for giving more importance to rituals than humanity. Herein lies the dilemma that plagued the adolescent for the rest of his life. One one hand, his father, is a dogmatic stickler of Vedantic scripture and a classical Indian music maestro who would rather die than to have the age-old Hindu traditions desecrated. One the other hand, the boy, Udayamurthi (Kamalhasan), can see so much social injustice around him that his father, a big man in the society, is turning a blind e...

Anbe Sivam (அன்பே சிவம், Love is God; 2003) Another of Kamalhaasan starred film filled themes of communism, God, social justice, realism and atheism. This time around, it was done on a story based on Hollywood's blockbuster, 'Planes, trains and automobiles' where the Steve Martin character is stuck with an annoying fellow traveller as he is held at New York airport which was closed due to worsening blizzard. In this film, an eccentric communist sympathiser, Nallasivam, is stuck with a capitalistic minded advertisement executive, Anbarasu, in a flood-hit airport in Orissa. Their adventures and misadventures travelling all the way from Bhubaneswar in Orissa to Chennai via various modalities of transportation aid them to understand and empathise each other, especially the scarred faced, limping and hemiparetic Nallasivam. In this almost 3-hour long story, we get to know about Nalla's communist afflictions, his fight for increased minimum wage for workers, his tiff w...

Uttama Villain (உத்தம வில்லன், 2015) Another self over glorifying movie about Kamalhaasan. Unlike Papanasam where Kamal was in a simple role telling a simple story, he is in his usual larger than life persona here. At the same time, I pick up the vibes of it being a satire of sorts, poking fun at the film industry. An actor is expected to be immortal donning the same role as he did from the start of his career, at the same time the age of the actresses remain the same. The apparent difference in age is comparable as father and daughter's! Manoranjan (Kamalhaasan) is a famous movie-star who has the world has his feet as he performs age defying dance moves with his heroines. In his private life, he is different. He has an intimate relationship with his doctor and has an illegitimate child from an old girlfriend. He has an disgruntled teenage son and a fast food chomping oversized wife at home. Everything takes a turn went Manoranjan is diagnosed with inoperable advanced brain t...

Papanasam (2015) After dabbling in many larger than life multiple roles to international appeal, Kamalhaasan has decided to quieten things a little and settle down to earth with this new film. It carries a strong story plot and points to ponder about familial bonds. After over 20 years, we see Kamalhaasan (Suyambulingam) and Gauthami (Rani) acting together again. Of course, this time, with passage of age and agility, they are more sedate in acting as loving husband and wife with two daughters in a small village town in Tirunelveli. Suyambulingam is self made cable operator, a primary school dropout and a movie buff. He self educates himself from the things he see on his movies - legal, mystery, murder dramas and in many languages too. He is proud of his achievement and has no qualms of showing it to his more 'educated' wife and the crowd at the local eatery that he frequents. Suyambulingam, an orphan, had made a killing for himself, owning a thriving business, a house, a h...

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 it...

16 Vayathinilae   ( 16 வயதினிலே ,  At the Age of 16, Tamil, 1977) This movie is considered a watershed in the Tamil film industry. It marked the superstardom of its three main actors, and it also opened the floodgates for outdoor shooting and 'art' life-like stories revolving around life in the villages. Slowly, the use of makeup diminished. It was alright for the main characters to look unappealing, dark and oily faced! After establishing herself as a child star, this 14year old starlet Sri Devi, acts as a 16-year village lass. After this flick, Rajnikanth and Kamal Haasan hardly performed together in a full-length feature film anymore as they became too big a star on their accord. This village themed flick became a precursor for the innumerable Tamil films of the similar genre that followed where unrefined colloquial language was the order of the day. Many copycat movies followed some bordered on testing the intelligence of the viewers with its thinly thought plo...

Apoorva Raagangal (Tamil, Bizarre Rhythms;1975) Another Kamal-Rajni flick. This time it is Rajnikanth is a debutante and is introduced to Tamil films by K. Balachander who wrote this story, dialogue and directed this offering. Apparently, Balander identified Rajnikanth as a potential after seeing him perform in a non-Tamil drama. Rajni was promised a role if he could learn Tamil, and he sure did, and the rest is history! This film, in keeping with its title of abnormal rhythm, obviously referring to the complicated effects of wide age difference relationships, also offers some, in my opinion, some of the most heart wrenching soul warming lingering Carnatic musical sounds! Actually, P Ramlee did offer this type of story half a decade before but in a comical manner through 'Keluarga 69' with A.R. Tompel. Bhairavi (Srividya), a classical singer, helps to nurse a gang bashed Prasanna (Kamal) to health in her abode, one thing leads to another and love blossoms. Prasanna i...

Avargal (They, Tamil; 1977) It starts with Anu (Sujatha) travelling in the mail train from Mumbai to Chennai with her son after going through a bitter divorce from her husband, Ramanathan (Rajnikanth). With the rhythmic churning of the rail coaches on the track, she recollects her miserable life living with Ramanathan. Again and again, he used to insinuate, ridicule and mentally torture her regarding her first love, Parani like a dart piercing a checker-board. We come to know, Anu, a classical dancer, had met a musician in Chennai. They separate after father gets a transfer to Mumbai. Out of sight and out of mind, the relationship fades. The ailing father gets her married to Ramanathan, a seemingly nice executive. The naive Anu opens her heart to Ramanathan of her previous liaison. Her husband did not, however, take it maturely. A new chapter starts for Anu, as she begins her work in Chennai. She comes to get to know the of the acquaintance of Johnny, a fellow co-work...

Moondru Mudichu (3 Knots, Tamil; 1976) Before fame and ego took over the best of them, Kamalhasan and Rajnikanth used to act together in many memorable films. Of hand, comes to mind are Avargal, Aval Appadithaan and Apoorva Raagangal. Sridevi's debut as heroine at the age of 12+ Child abuse or what? In that vein, Moondru Mudichi showcases sterling performances by this duo and another talented actress from the south, Sridevi, a debutante then as a heroine at the age of 12+ (born 1963). Kamalhasan and Rajnikanth are soul mates and roommates. Kamalhasan falls in love with a college student Sridevi, but the chain-smoking devious Rajni has both his eyes fixated on the lass and has no qualms expressing his desires to her behind his back. During a boat outing, Rajni lets Kamal drown after he fell overboard in full view of Sridevi. During police interrogation, he denies knowing to swim although he was a strong swimmer. Disappointed, she leaves town to work as a nanny to a...