Kamal Hassan- A lost wonder?

I got the chance to watch Kamal Hassan's "Manmadhan Ambu" in second day of its release depsite the huge crowd (thanks to online ticket booking). Movie was quite entertaining and a nice time pass too. I can clearly see the bright chances of it making big in box office business with its solo release (Kamal should thank Udayanidhi Stalin for using political power and struggling hard to stop the release of other biggies like Kavalan to get the maximum advantage of all theatres). Despite that MMA is entertaining, at one point of time towards the end of the movie, I strongly felt that this is not the kind of cinema that we expect from Mr.Kamal. That too at the present scenario when tamil cinema is realy moving forward with so many realistic movies hitting the screens and taking up the audience's cinema viewing experience to the next level. This particular perception gave me the push to share my views on Kamal Hassan and his movies in the recent times.

At first place, cinema is a business and the cinema people are there to make money. I am a cinema fan where everything matters to me... right from pakkaa masala entertainer to realistic world cinemas. There are directors, actors, technicians who openly declare that cinema is purely for fun and entertainment and their movies will be based on that idealogy. We know that very few actors have made it very big by simply following this notion. But how far and how long will that satisfy the audience? thats the seperate issue. They will pay the due price when they cant satisfy the audience within that scope of cinema making. There are other kind of cinema makers who always speak of meaningful cinemas of high quality... for them cinema is not just cinema. Its something more than that where realism should blend with the perfect cinema language. Ofcourse, only when their movies and thoughts are in same wavelength, audience will accept and place them in that wonderful league of artists. Kamal Hassan is one such film personality who has always projected himself as an actor and a technician believing in the outcome of meaningful cinema. He has proved this many times in the past. But what about the present? Let us have a look.

I can surely say without hesitation that the present period is the most healthy time in the last few decades of tamil cinema. Almost each and every novel attempts in presenting a different kind of cinema in terms of screenplay or realistic film making or new dimensional subjects or new technology... everything is receiving the never seen before appreciation and recognition accompanied with box office success. I can say countless examples to prove that there has been a tremendous change in tamil cinema audience's viewing level... right from Sethu to Autograph, Kaadhal, Naan Kadavul, Paruthiveeran, Subramanipuram, Imsai arasan, Anjadhey, Veyil, Nadodigal, Chennai 600028, Pasanga, Eeram, Angadi theru, Madarasapattinam, Kalavani, Mynaa... all these movies with its unique presentation in one way or the other has fared well in box office and also got appreciated in all class of audience(a,b and c) which is really a very rare thing to happen in the past. The most striking evidence for the fact that the tamil audience are no longer ready to accept the old wines in the new bottle can be clearly seen from the recent failures of many big budget movies with great star power. Star value has no value right now. Its only the content and way of presentation that clicks with the audience now.

With this quick glimpse of present tamil cinema's healthy trend, let me come back to the point of discussion. Kamal Hassan was undoubtedly one among the few creators who laid the foundation for the upcoming of innovative meaningful tamil cinemas. No one can doubt his profound knowledge on all facets of film making.. acting, direction, cinematography, production, music, dance, lyrics... after all he is an artist with 25 years of experience. Who can forget his classics like Nayagan, Moondram Pirai, Mahanadhi, Gunaa, Kuruthipunal, Thevar Magan... all these movies were unique with its realistic characters and sensible film making. But what about his present age movies? Sadly, the truth is that Kamal has slowly deviated from this inspiring path and caught himself somewhere into the commercial format of cinema. This can be easily understood by looking at his movies that got released after 1998... from Kaadhala kaadhala, Hey Ram, Thenali, Alavandhan, Panchathandhiram, Pammal K. Sammandham, Anbe Sivam, Virumaandi, Vassol Raja M.B.B.S, Mumbai Express, Vettaiyadu Velaiyaadu, Dasavatharam, Unnaipol Oruvan, Manmadhan Ambu... Out of these movies, only Anbe Sivam deserves to be considered as a ground-breaking movie. Hey Ram was a novel effort but it has so much flaws.. first of all it was presented in a very compllicated manner which is not understandable for a common man even upto to a reasonable level. Other than these two movies and Unnai Pol Oruvan, all other movies were centered on the commercial structure.

Kamal seems to have got struck with the monotonous type of comedy films.. kaadhala kaadhala, panchadhandhiram, pammal k.sammandham, vasool raja, mumbai express and latest to join this list is manmadhan ambu... all these films have more or less same brand of comedy where group of people talk non-stop irrelevant to each other making a complete mess out of situation... its fine and enjoyable to a certain level.. but watching it again and again... even in 2010 it continues... give me a break! Next question is why Kamal for this scripts? anyone can do this. So, where is the Kamal we saw as a father of two childrens (mahanadhi)... where is the kamal we saw as an mentally affected innocent lover (gunaa)... where is the kamal we saw playing diverse role of very down to earth real life characters? its hard to find that Kamal in screen these days. I can hear someone saying "hey he has played ten different roles in a single movie (dasavatharam)?"... Dasavatharam cant be placed in the classic league of Kamal movies as it can only be considered as a mammoth advertisement for Kamal's acting. Its a fantasy movie no where near to the realism. When good sensible movies are releasing and getting recognition with the casting of new comers itself, why is not Kamal using his star power to make the impact even stronger and deeper? I sincerely doubt that Kamal has lost his passion for sensible cinemas.

Its quite puzzling that Kamal who gave meaningful cinemas when audience are not ready to accept (gunaa, kuruthipunal are failures) is avoiding himself to make such attempts at present when tamil audience have evloved themselves as quality viewers. Unfortunately, Kamal has started to believe that using english dialogues to a greater extent can improve the quality of the movie and can take the tamil cinema to the next level. Sorry Kamal sir, you are simply doing a greater mistake with this kind of approach. Movies like Mynaa, Subramaniyapuram, Paruthiveeran... which are very close to our nativity takes us forward in the cinematic experience rather than your so-called english dominated ventures right from Vettaiyadu... unnai pol oruvan... to the latest Manmadhan Ambu.

Then how about Kamal Hassan as producer? When fantasy director Shankar is producing novel quality cinemas like Kaadhal, Imsai Arasan, Eeram... what about the true cinema lover Kamal's "Rajkamal Internationals"? Can you name a product from raj kamal company in the recent times with high quality content that refrain commercial elements? I dont mean that there should not be any commercial elements.. whats the issue here is how much and how far artist like Kamal who project themselves as a believer of good cinema are continuing to make efforts on their side for the outcome of the same.

Kamal can learn a lot from Aamir Khan. Aamir is doing a great job and contribution to the hindi film industry (even I can say Indian film industry) with his excellent movies. Be it as an actor or a producer... he is surely taking the indian cinema standard to a higher level in each and every movie of his. Have a look at his recent movies... Lagaan, Dil chahta hai, Mangal Pandi, Fanaa, Rang Se Pasanthi, 3 Idiots, Ghajini, Taare Zameen Par, Peepli live and the latest "Dhobi Ghat" even before its release is already doing rounds in many film festivals. All these movies released at a stretch justifies and speaks for the true commitment of Aamir towards the making of sensible cinemas. The highlight is that even though his movies are of high standard, they are not complicated in any way in the name of inclusion of other languages or subject wise or whtsoever, which makes a common man to understand it with ease. He make it a point to take the cinema experience to the next level in each of his movies. That surely onething which Kamal misses to do completely these days. "Kamal sir, please learn the commitment towards the meaningful sensible cinemas from Aamir".

I cannot expect all this from Rajinikanth or Vijay... but I can surely expect and demand it from Kamal because of his projection as lover and believer of good cinemas. He has done justification to his stand before but now its not the same... which make way for this article in search of that great artist lost by us.

My concluding words to Kamal Hassan...

"Neenga nalla padam yedukkalanu sollala, yeduthaa nallaa irukkum nu dhan soldren"

2G Scam & Political fixtures

2G spectrum scam is undoubtedly the ultimate focus right now in all sectors of our country. Be it politics or law or media or people... all r talking about this. As far as media is concerned, biased projection of news and reports are clearly observed in regional daily newspapers, magazines and channels especially in tamilnadu. But it is highly appreciable that the national channels like NDTV, IBNLive, Headlines Today are neutral in this issue atleast upto this point of time. How about law and order? I am glad to see the way things shaping up and its really very encouraging from a common man view. Supreme court has acted sensibly and following its hard hitting comments, CBI also has finally started to probe the issue with raids and questioning of concerned persons involved in it. Not to mention, its a big shame on CBI for taking no actions towards the investigation of 2g issue for nearly one year even after a case was filed on it. Atleast by now, it is good to see them moving ahead in a right direction. But then, how far and up to what extend? That we need to wait and watch. (CBI promised to submit final report on 2G to apex court by February end)

Coming to the bottomline of this article, how 2G scam is handled in political grounds? let us have a glance of it. First, let me start with ruling congress party and so the central government. We are very unfortunate to have a prime minister who turned himself like a "Deaf and Dumb" when the whole nation is concerned about it. He didnt make a single statement even though he was personally questioned on this 2g scam. He didnt speak a single word. Now after the complete logjam of entire winter parl session, he announces that he is ready to appear before Public Account Committee (PAC) for questioning. "What are you upto Mr.P.M? What made you to keep your mouth shut for such a long time when the whole nation is expecting you to speak. You are the most ineligible person to be a leader of a nation! Dont be a slave to someone in the role of a leader". Shame on peoples who praise his dignity... he is such a disgrace to P.M position.

I can firmly say that Sonia and her congress party avoided the developments in the investigations of 2G scam right from the beginning merely for their political advantages. They were ready to hide this whole issue just for the sake to benefit from the coalition support that they enjoyed with DMK. Mr.Rahul Gandhi, who project himself as a new age politician is no exception to dirty politics. He went vanished with no trace of his news right from the day spectrum issue started. And you know what, today he has commented on the price hike of onions... Oh my god! Where was he when the whole parl session was washed out? Where was he when the opposition parties are strongly demanding for JPC? Representing him as the youth icon of congress party, he is bound to express his view and parties stand on this whole issue right from the start. but he is yet to make a word on 2g. "Why are you silent Mr.Rahul? Whats stopping you? Is that the dirty political basics?". Sonia herself is one of the suspect on 2G issue. Is that along with the alliance factor (dmk supporet) is the reason for your long drawn silence and refusal of JPC demand? Suprisingly, congress claims that they have acted against corruption by taking immediate actions in case of adarsh and shashi tharoor issue. When they are immediate enough to take actions in this cases, then "what stopped them from immediate actions against Raja when spectrum issue came out? nearly for one year there were no actions. Why is that so?". To make it simple, congress cleverly took the powerful masterstroke tool 'silence' to handle 2G scam. A kind request to congress, you have been accused for many issues... answer for it from your stand. dont play blaming back games... please stop blaming BJP... dont try to teach them to introspect. You need to introspect yourself lot more. its not about BJP... its about people. You rule the nation now. Think of people and act responsibly!

BJP really seem to have a double standard on corruption. When they claimed the immediate resignation of A.Raja after the release of CAG report, what are they waiting for in the case of Yeddyurappa's corruption in karnataka. This seriously makes a big letdown in BJP's position to question the government for its inaction in spectrum scam. But ruling government simply cannot blame back BJP and escape itself from JPC demand as the opposition party is not BJP alone. JPC is a demand of all parties which combinely form the opposition... communist parties, aiadmk and few more. Whats the answer of ruling government to communist party's demand for JPC? However, its shocking to see left communist parties are not showing keen involvement in their demand for JPC even though they still insist on it. Its hard to see press statements of senior communist leaders like Seetharam Yechury or Prakash Karat on JPC demand. Now and then they express that they still stand by JPC demand. But thats surely not enough to put pressure on ruling government and that too a government led by cunning congress.

Whats the stand of AIADMK? Its very interesting! purely a 100% political stand!! AIADMK is completely against DMK in this case and they want the investigations to go deep into karunanidhi family... when thats get done, they wont care for the further probe of this issue even a single percent. They only wish that DMK persons whoever related to the 2g corruption should be spotted and arrested, so that they can take political advantage out of it in upcoming assembly eletion. To make it simple, what they want in this issue is not that all guilty should be punished... its only that DMK guilty should be punished. AIADMK leaders are clearly showing a soft corner for congress in their recent interviews in view of the possibility to make alliance with them in case of any rift between DMK and congress as a consequence of 2G probe. What i mean here is even if AIADMK get the most reliable evidence and source to prove that congress party people are involved in 2G, they surely wont expose it to people right now. They will wait till the election! Now I hope you can understand whats my point is.

I have no words to say about DMK party and its leaders. I cannot find any words to express how dirty DMK leader Karunanidhi and his whole political family in this issue right from Radia tapes to till now. Karunanidhi is a poison. In my view, no other political party in this world could be as dirty as DMK.

To conclude, almost all these parties are only keen on their political interests and advantages one way or the other.. after all they do politics. Now what about us... we the people? We had to face all these bitter facts whether u r against it or not..... whether u like it or not. Its simply our fate and dont forget that we are the ones who are responsible for that too.

Atleast, let us make a change in the coming days.

Think and Vote!

Easan-Review

Watched Sasikumar directed 'Easan' yesterday. First day first show. I admired Sasikumar's previous ventures Subramaniyapuram, Pasanga and Nadodigal. He impressed me in all the roles that he stepped in to... director, producer and actor. Even in subramaniyapuram, i liked his acting too. I have a great respect for Sasikumar and his team with full of talented persons like Samuthirakani, Kathir, James Vasanth and sure few more to follow behind the scenes. If you had watched recent award functions, you would have easily seen them coming in big group and taking away most number of awards. With all this background, surely Easan is one of the movie to get released with so much of expectation. But since higher expectations lead to higher disappointment, I made it a point to watch Easan with no expectation. Even though my inner feeling was that Sasikumar would surely live up to the expectation. But then did he? No, he disappoints this time.

What is the plot of the movie? A.L.Alagappan is a powerful minister and his son Vaibhav is a jolly-go person who goes on for partying all nights and spend time with his rich friends. Vaibhav uses his father political power to come out of the troubles that he and his friends had faced as a consequences of drinks and drugs. At this point, Vaibhav get impressed with a girl(new comer Abarna) and falls in love. After he saves her from an odd situation, as a rule in tamil cinema, she has no other option to love him. Opposition rises from both parents side. But Alagappan later gives green signal and also convince the girl's side to take advantage of her father's multi-million business and richness. At this very point, Vaibhav is kidnapped and his friend is also admitted to the hospital due to an accident. Police officer Samuthirakani comes in to investigate Vaibhav disappearance. When his investigation unfolds, we come to know that a boy named 'Easan' is behind the kidnap of Vaibhav. Easan is also the reason for the accident and death of Vaibhav's friend in hospital. Why is he doing all these? Flashback gives the answer that he wanted to take revenge of the persons who are behind her sister (Abinaya) and father's death. At the end, police officer Samuthirakani save Easan from minister and also take care of him. The end!

Very clearly, the basic plot of the movie is very old... a revenge story! We have to admit that no stories in the present day cinema is completely new.. most of the recent successful cinema also have got the same old story lines but the fresh presentation and kind of making is what made them to succeed (for example, Mynaa). But Sasikumar fails to do that in Easan. In very few portions, we can see the brilliance of Sasikumar especially the first 20 minutes of second half. But that is not enough to make the full movie work. The first half of the movie is tedious with artificialness clouding into each and every frames. First half lacks flow of perfect screenplay as there is no continuation in the scenes. A.L.Alagappan in the role of minister is complete disaster. I cannot tolerate his acting and particularly the body language. He is so artificial. His casting is one of the biggest letdown. Sasikumar has done a big mistake by casting him for that powerful role. Vaibhav, abinaya and small boy (abhinaya brother) have given a noteworthy performance. The person who comes as an assistant (comedy politician in Nadodigal) to Alagappan is also good. Cinematography of Kathir is good. Music by James vasanthan is ok and few songs are hummable. Re-recording is ordinary, nothing much to say.

In his attempt to showcase the urban life of chennai, Sasikumar missed out completely as he dealt the matter in a very lighter way which we are very familiar with in so many movies. He should have explored and projected the darker side of chennai to the core. He had the scope but missed to utilize on it fully.

To conclude, Easan doesnt fit into any format of cinema... neither commercial nor classic or serious kinda cinema. thats its major drawback. Sasikumar has failed to communicate effectively with the audience in what he really wanted to convey through this movie.

Verdict- Disappointing!

Supreme Court- A new hope?

First and foremost, I convey that I am very very new to politics, judiciary and even the day to day current affairs. In recent days, I somehow got myself attracted to the current affairs happening in our country... thanks to 2g scam. Before going into how this issue is related to my present topic, I would like to say few words. I really feel bad now when I think of my political knowledge in the past. I almost don't care about what was happening around me... ofcourse, movie and sports news are exceptions. Very rarely I go thorugh the political and current affairs news in the newspaper or magazines or television or whatsoever in the name of media. I do realize now that its very important for every citizen and particularly young india to have a good knowledge on whats happening in the political grounds of our India. I must also confess that in past too, I looked into the current affairs in media but only when something big makes the news like 26/11 mumbai terror attack or tamilians war in srilanka. Then with the time, my interest falls gradually. But this time, I feel myself different. I have realized the vital importance of the awareness of current affairs and politics even though when we are not directly involved in it. I believe that in all the coming days, my new found interest in knowing the facts happening around me in all aspects remain intact.

As I said in the beginning, 2G scam is onething which I am following right from the CAG report claiming loss of Rs.1,76,000 crores for the country (if you have asked me what is CAG or JPC before one month, I might have wondered wht is that... only that much minimal is my knowledge outside movies before). Within this one month or so, following this scam, there is so much to learn from the kind of attitude our politicians have, political games they play, tricks n words they do and speak for their justification... and the list goes on and on. To make it simple, i learnt so much on our political system even in this short term. Not to mention, my learning continues day by day.... As many of us, I am very much frustated with the ruling government adamant stand on refusing the acceptance of JPC demand. I don't want to discuss the dirty role of ruling party in the complete washout of winter session of parliament. Frustation apart, I see a good point to feel happy and secured in this so-called huge 2g scam.

What I am refering as good factor to see for in this 2g issue is our Supreme Court. Again as a beginner, I don't have any idea on how supreme court worked earlier and how it handled the major crisis issues in the past. But from the time I am following the present 2g issue, I am very happy to see the way supreme court act despite the fact that the present issue is against the ruling party. Great to see the reputed organizations like CBI and even big persons (political position wise) like PM and others being questioned by supreme court for their inefficient actions and irresponsible approach. In my view, supreme court statements played a key role in urging the CBI to make investigations on A.Raja and his team who were major part of the issue. Even though it is widely said that raids carried on A.Raja is only for eye wash, I do strongly believe that the hard hitting statements on CBI slow and inadequate actions by supreme court is a prime reason. Thanks to the judges panel who are probing into this. It gives immense courage to common people like us that some justice can be drawn in front of the law. Having said that, I am very eager to know how supreme court judge panel going to handle this issue further. As millions of citizens, I am waiting for the right action and right justice.

Note: The reason for the question mark (supreme court- a new hope?) in the topic of this post is mainly because I am unaware of the past history. I am not aware whether supreme court acted genuinely and gave right justice on big issues like 2g. If I am wrong, I will be happy to be corrected. Please share your comments. Being a beginner in both writing and politics, your comments will be of great help to share my thoughts effectively in coming days. Thank you for sparing your time :-)

SPR starts blogging

hi all... happy to begin my blog experience!