It is not a bed time story!

Sampoorna Ramayanam (Complete Ramayana, Tamil;1956)
(சம்பூர்ண ராமாயணம்)


The epic of Ramayana has fascinated people for ages. It has been narrated for generations via oral traditions, print media, stage performances and the silver screen. As early as 1922, a silent film on Ramayana came out in cinemas. Before this 1956 Tamil version, Hindi and Telegu versions of Ramayana can be found. Many other editions since then, and now, at the time of cable TV, Ramayana has permeated into households regularly.

There are many versions of Ramayana. Valmiki wrote the earliest one. Even Hanuman was concurrently writing his view on the occurrences of the day. With time, it evolved to Buddhist, Jain and South East Asian adaptations. 

Valmiki's Ramayana is said to be the authentic text of Rama's life, but it ends with his coronation at the throne after his banishment to the jungles for 14 years and capturing Sita from Ravana. Other additions of vilification of Ravana as the classical evil bad guy and exile of a pregnant Sita after overhearing the murmur of a washerman remains folklore at best.  Scholars who analysed these Sanskrit scripts agree that these were written in a slightly less refined language.

Sivaji Ganesan had already established himself as a reputable artiste by then, but due to his spirited way of acting, he was naturally not cast as Rama. Lord Rama, an avatar of Vishnu, the pillar of stoicism was played by the sombre, perhaps apathetic NT Rama Rao who later went on to have a very successful career in politics. Maybe, his casting in divine roles made the general public see him in a different light.

The first part of the film was very slow moving with most of the storytelling done through songs. This was the old way of economising time, to give value for money. The actor cast as Kaikeyi, the second wife of King Dasaratha, played a convincing role as a jealous mother worried about her position after her biological son is sidelined for the throne. She transforms well from a loving stepmother to Rama to a witch after being influenced by her foster mother.

Generally, people do not name their daughters Kaikeyi as she is perceived as the earliest villain of Ramayana. If not for her, demanding for her boons from the King, the whole hullabaloo of Rama going to the woods and the fight with Lanka would not have arisen. Lately, there is a reinterpretation of Kaikeyi's role in the whole saga. Her character was vital in Rama's development into a figure than himself. His dharma was plentiful in the jungle. There were many boons and work to be done there; not cooped in Ayuthia and rule a kingdom. For good things to happen, we need a jolt on the status quo. King Dasaratha is described as a smothering father who arrested Rama's development!

A cursory knowledge of Ramayana is mandatory to appreciate this movie.

As expected Sivaji who assumes the role of Barathan is at ease to display a melodramatic portrayal of a very loving brother of hearing that his thoughtful brother had been dethroned and banished. He rejuvenates the later part of the show with his presence.

Unlike the sermons in temples where Ravana is portrayed as a ten-headed fiery hot asura, in this movie, he is shown as a very decent human monarch. He is learned and is kind to all his family members, the royal court staff and his subjects. It is his sister, Shurpanakha, who fanned the fire of fury. It is his love of his sister that clouded his judgment. He went ahead to kidnap Sita. This was atypical of him; a scholar of many arts and sciences kidnapping somebody else's wife.

The film illustrates the turmoil that he goes through as he takes stock of his situation on the eve of his defeat. He regrets the destruction of his kingdom, the pain caused and the dilemma of whether to conceit defeat or to end his life in shame. To fight was sure failure but to commit suicide was cowardice. Bhagavathi plays the role of Ravana.

The song 'Indru Poi Naalai Vaarai' (Go today, Come tomorrow) is rendered in the film by C. S. Jayaraman. Here, Bhagavathi, playing Ravana, is in a dilemma. It was a day before the final kill. Ravana, having lost his army, meets eye-to-eye with Rama. Instead of giving the coup de grace, Rama tells him to go and return to fight the next day. This song has become an immortal melody. Composed in 'Thilang' raaga, an import from Sufi music, this song was successfully adapted by Guru Nanak and his disciples who composed several hymns. It was extremely popular with musical geniuses like Ravishankar, Bhimsen Joshi, violin maestro Lalgudi Jayaraman and musicologist G. S. Mani. The great Carnatic musician D. K. Pattammal recorded a song, ‘Shanthi Nilava Vendum,’ in this raaga on the occasion of the shocking death of Mahatma Gandhi in 1948.

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Keep calm, or appear so!

Nirai Kudam (நிறை குடம், Full Pitcher, Tamil; 1969)

Sivaji Ganesan was at the zenith of his career. It was at a time when almost every month saw the release of one of his movies. It must surely be a record of sorts. The 'modern' world may accuse him and the films of his era as melodramatic, stereotyping and over-acting. His loyal fans, however, to date, place him and his skills in a pedestal so high that cannot be filled by anyone yet to be born.

Being so prolific must have its downside. This film must provide the testimony of such an endeavour. The story is such loosely knitted that defies logic; that a group of three final year medical students (a brother-sister pair and her boyfriend) should engage in such a foolhardy prank that kills one of them and blinds the other. The girl blames her boyfriend for her brother's death and her loss of vision. The truth of the matter is kept a secret until the remaining student becomes a successful ophthalmic surgeon and discover a ground-breaking surgery to reverse the blindness. Along the way, we see family melodramas, hiding of truths, testing of human relationships and the third medical student masquerading as somebody else and marrying the blind student without she having an iota of suspicion that his voice and probably body scent may connect him to the person she abhors so much. Along the way comes the mandatory comedy reliefs, this time from the Cho-Manorama combination. Sivaji, Vanishree and Muthuraman take the lead.

I suppose one should not ask too many questions when watching mainstream Indian movies. One should enjoy the message, the value and the traditional Indian philosophies imbibed in its storyline. Perhaps, as the title suggests, a person in power should not be too boisterous or hellbent on creating mayhem. Like a pitcher (container) which is filled to the brim, he should be quiet. An empty vessel makes all the noise. Everything will reach a steady state. We do not need people on the top of the perch also be screaming blood or revenge when things go wrong. Those in the higher echelons should appear calm. No problem cannot be solved. Everything would fall into place eventually. What we need is to a step back, assess, put on the thinking caps, re-evaluate and execute.

On the other hand, the saying 'Nirai Kudam' (நிறை குடம்) may refer to completion. In traditional South Indian auspicious functions, a metallic vase is filled with water almost to the brim and is adorned with garlands, coconut, mango leaves and is inscribed upon it sacred symbols to invoke the feminine forces of Nature. I wonder how this is related to the title of this movie.  

https://asok22.wixsite.com/real-lesson 

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

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Epistemology, Indian style!

Many who live in the present, enjoying the comforts of modernity, growing fat with the affluence and the ease of doing things with scientific advances abhor the many changes that happen around them. They clamour about decadence, injustice and our self-induced path to destruction. They reminisce about the good days when foods were tasty, the air was clean and leaders were honest.

The more you delve into history, the more one realises that Man's past was never anything but of turmoil. Take the instance of South India, for example. They talk about the glorious good old Golden Age of the Pandyas, Cheras and Cholas and their gargantuan seafaring, scientific and philosophical feats.

Thanjavur Periya Kovil

Sample of Chola architectural prowess

All these achievements did not come without any human sacrifices. The Hindu kings had to outdo their Jain Kings with their architecture and their wealth. They had to compete with the Buddhist for support from the masses as Buddhism appeared kinder to those who lost out in the Sanāthana Dharma's caste system and gender discrimination. Even the Buddhists were no angels either. In their animosity with the Hindus, they collaborated with the invading Mogul army only to be played out, converted and chased away. That is how Buddhism spread eastwards and that is why they did not have representation in the Din-Illahi panel. Their role as a dominant religion had fizzled out. And the peaceful paths of all religions leaves a trail of blood, death, injustice and the ego to prove their assertions.

The scene in this snippet reminds me of the time in South Indian history when one great Shaivite poet, Sambanthar, managed to convert a Jain King to become a Hindu King. The first thing that the King did afterwards was to impale 3,000 plus of his kinsmen who refused to convert!

In the movie clip, a Pandya King, puzzled after being rejected by a palace dancer, confides in his learned poet for solace. The Minister suggests divine indulgence for peace of mind. The King, a non-believer, demands proofs for the existence of God -where is He; which direction He is going to; what is He doing now?

As illustrated, the simple truths of Life were enumerated simply by a prodigy with her child-like precocious intelligence which is rampant in Hindu Purana stories.

So what or who or where is God? Like in the milk metaphor, the Milky Way (Universe) is the vessel that contains all lifeform matters and non-matters? It is the force that binds all these Existence which all culminated from The One - Milk, the elixir of life? Like the brightness from the lit candle, God, the Enlightened One, traverses all directions? That the Universe is always expanding? The Light as highlighted by the Sufi Mystics and Zoroastrians? That His 'actions' are the all the ill effects of all of Man's reckless actions, not His doings! Man does everything at the spur of the moment influenced by his ego, self-interest, compulsion, weakness and compassion that gets him into all kinds of a mess but he blames God afterwards? After all, His 'doing' is just to juggle to keep the equations of opposing forces, to thermodynamic and other universal laws in steady-state...

Flaunt it never?

Nitchiya Tamboolam (1962)

Met up with a friend after 30 over years. I did not have much to talk about then, did not have the opportunity to, but now, somehow we clicked on common grounds. After honing his survival skills with the courtesy of the School of Hard Knocks of Life, he has a leaning towards philosophy. We had talked a good one hour before we realised that we had others to meet up at the gathering.

When we spoke about films and philosophy, he was quick to add, "Why go so far as to look for philosophy in movies when you have tonnes of them in every Tamil movie!"

True. Just look at this happy tune from 1962. It shows a group of carefree youngsters, including the pudgy Sivaji Ganesan who is trying to portray a young punk, are seen singing merrily humming a tune and playing their harmonica and guitar, driving down a country road. Despite the temporary setback in the punctured tyre, they repair their damage and carry on their merriment with a little bit of help from their friends.

Roughly, the lyrics go like this...

God created it and gave it to me,
"live the life, boy!" He told me
and sent me down. 

The world is in my hand,
money jingling in my pocket,
come to think of it, I am King.
Entertainment, romance, you'll find it here, friend. 

One who worries about the past is silly,
One who worries about the future is stupid.
One to ignores what come may is a good fan.
That person is this person and this person is that person,
there is no today and no tomorrow,
there is no night or day,
there is no youth, old age or end. 

It is absurd to save your money and hide it,
The money that God created is public domain,
Whatever money comes to me, I spend and enjoy it around, it's my duty,
It may me proud, it's my right!
When you have lots of money,
and you can see others jump around in joy, laughing with you
you will find a special kind of joy....

This goes against the grain of what I was taught in my childhood - be humble; save money, save for a rainy day; don't flaunt; life has it ups and downs, do not think that good times would last forever; friend will laugh with you when you are rich and laugh at you when poor; do not mock the poor. Of course, in that movie, the character is trying to portray the persona of rich man's kid spoilt by excesses of life. He seems to think he is god-sent to enjoy life, not to worry about the future as life would take care of itself. Everything is a cycle - good times and bad; so why bother? When life hits rock bottom, it can only go one way; that is up!

But then, over-indulgence and living in opulence have always been taught to us to be wrong virtues. A simple way of life and the path of moderation is said to be a sure way of attaining eternal happiness. Do they really?

Be thrifty, be like the ant, save for a rainy day. The economists, however, advise us to spend like there is no tomorrow, to spur the economy. The older adage advises us to spend within your means; a life free of debts is a happy one. The modern man immerses in credit to aim high; aim for the moon, they say, if you fail, at least you fall amongst the stars. The only problem is that the stars are light years away if compared to our lunar friend!

My mother used to curse her father for having spent the whole family heirloom within a single generation. Perhaps, he had the same mindset as that of the hero in the song. Live for today as you do not know whether you would live tomorrow. Perhaps, the generation next need a little push with economic help as people in the modern post-colonial world do not have goodwill and blessing for their meal and education. They had to sing for their meals!


The last stanza in the song probably shows the socialist/ communist stance of the lyricist. The verses in Tamil could also mean 'it is a joy to see people run after the money that I throw'! He is probably looking and laughing at our antics of the poor dancing to rich man's tunes for money and how the rich manipulate the poor with their wealth! That is the special kind of joy he is talking about!

In the snippet, as if in a symbolic manner, shows us travelling through time yearning for joy and happiness. The car, our journey, hits a rough patch, a puncture. We all help each other to get us going again, continuing with things that make us happy, until the next glitch. Happiness is all that we seek. When we attain that, we want more. We do not know where and when to stop. Perhaps, we should be an Epicurean to find pleasures in the simple things in life. Like Mugli and his jungle friends who only dwell in bare (bear) necessities to survive and have fun!

http://tamilsongslyrics123.com/detlyrics/447

Not just a tale...

Karnan (Tamil; 1964)


I vividly remember my history teacher and her inappropriate remark when we covered Indian Civilisation in Form 1. She was explaining Mahabharata, an epic story of a war between two families, Pandavas and Kauravas where Krishna was on the side of the Pandavas. She remarked, “Can you imagine a war where God takes sides?”

Well, the truth is far from that. Well, the truth has so many layers to it that the truth may not appear like the Truth, the real Truth and the only Truth. It may seem wrong or cruel. This is the essence of the lesson all the ancient scriptures are trying to tell us. Everything that happens in life is not all white or black. The Pandavas are not the good guys. Neither are Kauravas epitome of evil. Is it determinism that made a son fight his brothers? Is it the free will of the people around us that decide on daily occurrences? Does one good deed deserves another, is it like a token that we can use as ‘get out of jail’ free card? These are some of the uncertainties of life that are depicted in this movie from the perspective of Karnan, yet another character of many from Mahabharata. It is an extremely philosophical film that may excite those who have reached a certain stature in life and wonder what the heck the journey of life is all about.

With the doyens of South Indian cinemas, Sivaji Ganesan, NT Ramarao, SA Asokan, Muthuraman, in the limelight, this is no short of melodrama. As in any ancient scriptures, the female characters took the backstage. Nevertheless, Savithri, Devika and MV Rajamah made their presence felt.

The story of Mahabharata can go on for eons. Hence, this film only looks at certain events in the life of Karnan. It is also interesting to note there are many overlaps in their stories narrated in these ancient scriptures.

Kundi, a virgin, from the Pandava clan, is impregnated by Lord Surya (Sun God) after a worship. She, a maiden, delivers a Godchild with a celestial armour and congenital earrings of power. To avert subsequent embarrassment, she abandons the child in a vessel by the river, donned in royal regalia and colours. Hold behold, it sounds of a clip from the Bible, of God impregnating virgin, abandonment of baby floating in the river.

The child, who grows up to be Karnan, is brought up by a charioteer, a supposedly a degrading job. Karnan later discovers that his adoptive status and being in the lower strung of society bars him from exhibiting his prowess in arching and combative skills. Even, asking for a hand in marriage to Subarangi is a stumbling block. The only person who gives him credence and respect is his friend, Duryodhana. He makes him a warrior and a ruler. But then, even Duryodhana, the eldest of the Kauravas' son has ulterior motives. He sees Karnan's skills as an asset to win over the Pandavas.

Interestingly, the Lord of the Skies (Indra) who favours the Pandavas hoodwinks Karnan, who can never say no to charity, and cheats him of his celestial armour and congenital ear-rings of power.

As you know, the war between the two cousins started from a dice game. The eldest of the 5 Pandava is an avid gambler loses his kingdom and everything he owned, including his brothers and wife, Draupadi, not once but twice. After returning from an exile of 13 years, the two factions return to the negotiating table. Failing to reach an agreement, war it was.

By then, Kundi already knows the identity of Karnan. Caught in a catch-22 situation, fear of losing her sons on either side, (her five children on Pandava and Karnan on Kauravas), she, with the conniving plan of Krishna (an avatar of Lord Vishnu), make a complex deal with Karnan. That Karnan could not kill any of the five brothers and Karnan could only shoot his magic arrow once at Arjuna.

As the twist of fate had it, Karnan is cheated of his victory. His chariot wheel gets caught in a pot-hole, and his charioteer with attitude abandons ship. Karnan is shot and is mortally wounded. Even at that juncture, Karnan still manages to give alms to a begging Brahmin.

At the end of the movie, during his dying moments, as all family members wail and moan Karnan’s loss, Krishna explains that Arjuna cannot claim personal victory or blame for killing Karnan. The Gods cannot be blamed either for making him kill his brother. It is all an interplay of many activities that decide an occurrence. Arjuna defeated Karnan because Lord Indra took his armour, Kundi got a boon not to fire a second arrow, the chariot should hit a hole (curse by Bhoomadevi), the charioteer should abscond, and Karnan gave away his good deeds. Good deeds (dharma) protect one from harm, as Karnan’s charity almost gave him invincibility.

N.B. There are no good people and bad people. Even the worst of people do the best of things sometimes. And the apparently virtuous of us do have skeletons in our closets. An interesting point, King Dhritarashtra, the blind king of the Kauravas, sired 100 sons and a daughter. His wife, Queen Gandhari sits beside him on the royal throne blindfolded to feel the predicament of a blind person personally.

Guilt may kill you!

Ethiroli (Echo, Tamil, 1970)
Story, Screenplay, Direction: P. Balachander
The opening scene of the movie says it all...

Sankaran (Sivaji) is a defence lawyer who stands flabbergasted as the prosecuting officer (VS Ragavan) crumbles his case where a defenceless women stands accused of murder.
Sankaran's turn to cross examine the main witness, pin drop silence, only the echo of the sound of the rotating fan. Camera moves on Sankaran's face. He walks towards the witness, staring. He does not say anything, just twirling a pair of reading glasses. He does not ask any question any question, just stares. Beads of perspiration are seen on the forehead of witness. Witness shivers. Prosecution cries foul, accusing of intimidation. Judge presses for Sankaran to proceed with questioning. Sankaran stays mum, still staring at the witness with fury. All of a sudden, the witness breaks down. He admitted that he never saw the accused actually run from the site of crime as he was bad sighted and was not donning his spectacles at the time of incident! Accused is free to go.
The opening scene itself showed that it was going to be one heck of a movie. Sivaji with expressive (sometimes over melodramatic) acting with KR Vijaya as his equally emotional consort gave justice to the role of display of various human emotions and human conundrum in this highly expressive noir-like not your usual run-of-the-mill Kollywood offering.
Sankaran is hot-shot lawyer who has set his future set in from him. Rumours are that he would be promoted to the the judge's bench pretty soon. As per formula of a good movie at the box office, comedy is compulsory. This is provided by Nagesh who actually is actually Sankaran's college mate together with the Prosecuting Officer. Nagesh failed his examinations and became a police constable. The constant nag by his wife about his lowly paid job provides comic relief through his antics of masquerading as a Police Inspector and a marriage broker.
Sankaran is trusted by one of his clients to pay a princely sum of cash to courts. The money is somehow stolen en route to the courts. All his efforts at recovering the monies or a loan proved futile. Upon returning from Tenkasi after a failed loan effort, his luggage gets mixed up with a fellow traveller (TS Balaya, who later becomes his in law) and he returns home with a suitcase of money and jewellery, way above the amount he needed.

7 Commandments

The real climax of the movie is now. Sankaran is a desperate situation. He stands to lose his reputation and promotion. On the other hand, he is in the profession on upholding justice. After much haggling and debating with himself and his wife, through a draw of lots he decided to keep the money. Even the hammer that he used to crack the lock open reminded him of the gravel that he is going hold to uphold justice.
One by one, all the principles that he held to his life is seen crumble one by one. Coincidently, on his daughter's birthday, Sankaran had presented a board with his 7 principles of life - Do not lie; Do not mix with bad people; Do not get angry; Do not forget your duties; Do not steal; Do not show fury to God; Do not murder!
As the news of the missing money hits the papers, the taxi driver (Major Sunderajan) who transported Sankaran's luggage reads about it. He starts blackmailing Sankaran to keep mum. Here we can see the respect between a lawyer and a working class man slowly dwindling. Coincidentally, taxi driver's girlfriend is the woman in the beginning accused of murder.
The story progresses with Sankaran digging himself deeper and deeper into self destruction. Taxi driver uses Sankaran as a free pass every time he is low on cash.
To cut the long story short, taxi driver is shot dead. Sankaran is accused of murder (the last of the commandment). Another interesting court case ensues, this time Sankaran at the dock. His brother, SS Rajendran is prosecuting. Of course, all turns out well. Sankaran gets his promotion too. He resigns after the first day as the gravel reminded him of the hammer that he used to break the lock! The doubt that he fail in upholding justice just as he had made a wrong call when he was in dire straits. He thought that he might waver from the side of justice.
An excellent movie could not have been as good if any other actor had done the role. Sivaji and KR Vijaya showed their star presence. The other actors, excluding Nagesh, Sunderajan and Ballaya, were simply overshadowed - Sivakumar, SS Rajendran, Lakshmi, Vijayalalitha, OAK Devar.

Sometimes you wonder if all those who commit crime do indeed have an internal turmoil before doing an act which they are well aware that it is wrong in the first place or is it like an after thought when they find themselves in trouble deep!
A person's upbringing, backgrounds and believes make one feel guilty of his actions. Even if the man-made court of justice escapes him, the guilt may indeed increase his stress hormones making him in continual risk of flight which make in turn push into him a state of hyper metabolism, stress related ailments, premature ageing and maybe even death. Unless of course, if you of the personality disorder or psychopath type where you experience no guilt and no remorse!

At the golden era of Tamil civilization

Raja Raja Cholan (ராஜ ராஜ சோழன், Tamil, 1973)

Of late the name of the Cholan Empire has been in the limelight. The remnants of an old relic had been ignorantly bulldozed by capitalistic minded building developers who thought that those remains of an ancient shrine were just giant boulders that just happened to be there, as if stupidity is a legitimate excuse for acquittal. The shrine was allegedly built by the local inhabitants of Swarnabhumi who were awed by the culture of the invading Chola Kingdom and decided to emulate their way of living. One of the ancestors of this kingdom is Raja Raja Cholan. He is said to have ruled South India at the zenith and glory of Tamil civilization. In this 1973 film, the era of Raja Raja Chulan was immortalized by the eloquent and sometimes over acting doyen of the Tamil movie screen, the late Padmashri Sivaji Ganesan.
This film highlights the cunning and far thinking megalomaniac of a king who strives to leave his mark in history by expanding his territories and showcasing the greatness of the Tamil culture and language. It narrates the tale in the life where he outwits an enemy turncoat advisor who deflects to his kingdom. All the same breath, he tests the tenacity of his future son in law, his strong willed princess, the combative prowess of his young prince and to defeat the traitor at his own game of wits.

Tanjavur Periya Kovil

Along the way, he salvages some Thevaram scrolls which were locked up by some priests who insist that they would only be released when three sages who had gave them for safekeeping appeared in person. These three sages, Appar, Manickavasagam and Nyanasambanthar, were presumed dead! Raja Raja retrieved the scrolls by presenting idols replicas of them, arguing that if God idols were representation of Him, then those replicas should suffice!
His reign also saw the erection of Tamil Nadu's magnificent temple, Periya Kovil. It is said that the Cholas were master builders who spread their influence (conquered) to Ceylon, Srivijaya, Kadaram (Kedah) and Maldives.
In keeping with the tradition of Tamil movies, all ends well when the youngsters prove their mettle and the turncoat's antics come to fore!

The battle with the bottle!

Sorgam (சொர்க்கம், Heaven, 1970, Tamil)

Don't understand why it is
'சொர்க்கம்' and not 'சொர்கம்'

I remember entering the hall late when the first song was on-going and Sivaji was immersed in a day dream. In his dream, there was a chubby girl with coarse features and thick limbs (Vijayalalitha) gyrating to an electric guitar infused hot music clad in scanty parchment named clothes stuck with rupee bills. Some how, I remember the hall as the same one as the one where Psy wowed Penangites. As usual it was a last minute plan by Amma's regular movie buff, Rajamah. Rajamah, whose monthly grocery bill would include cartons of Ipoh's Chap Kwan Loong dragon brand 'minyak angin' (medicated oil), could easily be a glue sniffer -only difference was her glue was medicated oil. It was from her condition that I learnt about the diagnosis of 'Rhinitis Medicamentosa' - of a lady with chronic congestion of her nose whilst continuing with her sniffing of her medicated oil!
This must be easily one of the last few movies that I was summoned as a chaperon. I suppose after that the Tamil films which were released dwelt more on adult subjects (Aval Oru Thodar Kathai) and the unpleasant double-meaninged dialogues that later came of vogue. Even young village boys started talking dirty in the late 70s!
A few things that stay fresh in my mind about this flick. Besides the dream scene under  the money tree, I remember the drunken hero singing a philosophical song beside an Austin Morris 1100cc. A recurring theme which fascinated me then was the quicksand. In a few scenes, the villain showed his prowess by pushing his victims there. It also happened to the hero but (surprise, surprise) he escaped.
the story starts with 3 university friends, Shankar (a 42year old Sivaji Ganeson), Balaji and Nagesh celebrating Shankar's conferment of his B.A. degree over a piece of sandwich in the park. In their conversation, we are told that Shankar, the honest hardworking one had plans of being reach through sheer hard work and intelligence. Balaji feels that one should grab whatever chance that come along, whether legal or otherwise. Nagesh, who repeated exams again and again believes in fate. With that introduction, they part different ways.

Dream sequence

Shankar, after many failed attempts at getting sponsors to back his mega plan to build a mammoth factory, he settles down to be a clerk. (B.A. and engineering plan does not compute, does it? - don't ask, just watch! Shh!) He meets the love of his life, K.R. Vijaya, marries and is a happy father of a young child.
In comes a new partner from Main Branch to his office, guess who? Balaji. He manages to win some rich man's heart (R.B.Manohar) and became his confidante and partner in business!
Shankar bypass all the other hopefuls and becomes the manager of his office. He climbs up the corporate ladder. His boss agrees to finance his big factory plan with Balaji's recommendation (Talk about cronyism).
As the volume of his abode increases, so does his consumption of alcohol. He battles alcoholism, almost loses his family and is reunited in the end.
All this are told are told in a long winded way to encompass all the aspects of entertainment to make it a wholesome family entertainment worth every paise for an average Indian viewer. For technology, the film makers showed their skill in capturing double act scenes. The rich tycoon in the story has an evil brother who impersonate him for the money. Then there is MRR Vasu, the chief clerk who has seven kids. Three of the kids, boys are identical in appearance to him in physique and built and the four daughters who look like a pea of a pod with his wife all appear in the same frame! Comedy relief is given by Nagesh in his failed ventures in fortune telling scenes, as a taxi driver and his courting of MRR Vasu's eldest daughter.
I heard some rumours which said that Sivaji himself was fighting the bottle around that time. I would not be surprised as I thought that even though he looked sleek and sharp in his tight fitting jacket and drain pipe suit, I swear there was a persistent tinge of jaundice in his conjunctiva and an occasional blood shot eyes during close ups.
The take home message was that one should not chase for happiness through wealth but rather, family should be given importance.
A feel good nostalgic and entertaining flick bringing us to a time when things were simpler, either black or white and lesser shades of grey!