Viduthalai Part 1 Review

 Viduthalai Part 1 Review

Vetrimaaran intends to demonstrate a tutorial to the unresolved tribal arguments and conflicts, the complexity in judicial system, the horrific reality of torture of the captives that results in revenge killings on both sides. Audience are walked through the maze, by the lead character Kumaresan, a constable, played by the fantastically convincing Soori. The Director makes Kumaresan, our eyes and ears, to surface the truth, that might be different from the news that we hear and read about, that might be different from the factual history, that might become the footing for our next gen's cyclic disputes.

The opening credit, titling Vijay Sethupathi, as 'Mentor', abstracts the story for those who are not familiar with the Jeyamohan's short story, 'Thunaivan', on which the film is based. Though the perspective that of the commoner, is what drives the initial narration, the viewers are prepped for the tables to turn anytime.

The radio announcement of a blast in the train, the drone camera work that visualizes the radio news, the beautiful shot compositions and prompt shot divisions that transpires the agony of the injured mass and the hardship of the rescuers- the inclusive opening sequence, echoes the audience's anger on the force behind the merciless act. The peculiar realism in the composition, makes you relive the incident during the given period. It's a striking contrast to the making of a similar 'VFX overloaded sequence' in the highest grossing film of last year. The team authentically remain true to the venture and tries to reproduce visuals, mimicking the 80's 'film stock' quality. It fondly reminds us of those magnetic recording tapes of the 70's and 80's Tamil cinemas.

Actor Soori's character demands strong conviction with abundant innocence and naivety. The actor's natural flair in expressing the character's traits, pleasantly surprises and as the intensity builds towards the second half, the actor is spot-on with his metered performance. His character is one that you initially sympathize with and be proud of his integrity and righteousness. But as the character's arc surges to become the 'one' that you look up to, in saving the women in custodial torture and to nab the rebellion head- the determined actor is ever so convincing with his restless body language, his focused mindset and emotion-driven haste.

One might be constantly distracted in finding parallels of story lines and cinematography, say, from the vigilante film, 'Malaiyoor Mombattiyan' to the recent, 'Taanakkaran' and even the 'Ela Veezha Poonchira', for their story telling and landscape attributes. But, the native terrain, the 80's narrative style, the dialogues, the political implications- remains true to the land, that the story is about.

An effective casting, guarantees to add layers to the story, through unspoken 'emotional deliveries' of the trained artists. Bhavani Sre's lost yet dreamy eyes, Rajiv Menon's civility, hawk-eyed Gautham Menon's congruence to the tribal customs to gain their confidence, Chethan's alter ego in punishing Kumaresan, each character etches the story uniquely. The pace slows down, in spite of the anticipations built by the 'voice-overs' of Soori. But with the revelation of the Vijay Sethupathi's character, the narration gains back its momentum.

The audience are left to chew their perspectives until the final part is released, so they could play jury, after heeding to the other side. Illayaraja's numbers wrapped in its timeless 'pixie dust', duly swoons us, as it did for decades, supplementing onscreen emotional quotients.

The cinematographer R. Velraj's lenses speak the language of Director Vetrimaaran's, the one that the audience fondly relate to, from the duo's 'Aadukalam' days.

The realism that we see in majority of the Malayalam films, are often matchless. Vetirmaaran's compositions strives to achieve on those lines, but there seems a void in certain sequences which try hard to convince the 'already convinced audience'. For instance, the sequence where Soori runs from pillar to post, to stall the torment caused to his love interest, the background song in Illayaraja's base voice, felt totally unwarranted for, as the significance of the performing artist, seemed lost in the midst of the musical chords.

Vijay Sethupathi's meaty role is yet to be unveiled to its full glory and even in the fewer scopes that he has in this part, he fails to create the expected stir, except for the rebellion sequence with his fire spewing wide eyes and curly hair make over. But the actor renders samplers in the preview of the subsequent part, leaving the audience intrigued by 'Vaathiyar's preachy texts and the challenging visuals to match his powerful dialogues.

The end credit titled 'Company Artists', nostalgically scrolls down, drawing one closer to decades of movie going memories. 

Ponniyin Selvan I

 Ponniyin Selvan I

2022, Tamil, 8.9/10 IMDB, Directed by Mani Ratnam

The litmus test for any adaptation is to identify the visual significance of each plot point, so it could justify its presence on the screenplay, only to push the narrative forward. PS-I convincingly cast off few subplots and relinquish few characters, yet travel seamlessly, exhibiting the intrinsic nature of the original novel.

The novel’s success lies in its multitude of characters, each one with a definitive set of traits. The actors are exquisitely convincing in each of their roles, as they come alive onscreen. The fact that the story is an historical fiction, the narration steers clear of any fantasy elements. The grandeur, ironically is in its minimalism- through a glimpse of the spellbinding ‘human facets’ of those big names, straight from of our history textbooks.

Historical dramas in Tamil Industry, like Veerapandiya Kattabomman are things of the past. PS-I rightly ventures to stimulate our instant gratifying generation, to take a deep dive into our literary roots. The authenticity in the making, leaves the viewers in a constant awe. Our mind fails to find parallels from all the fantasy realms, like the ‘Game of Thrones’ and ‘The Lord of the Rings’.

Aishwarya Rai's crafty yearning, Vikram’s remorseful longing, Karthi’s innocent inquisitiveness, Trisha’s undaunted confidence, Ravi’s benevolent valor- the actors exceptionally execute their roles justifying the author’s imagination.

The market chase sequence of Vanthiyathevan, reminds that of Aladdin’s ‘one jump ahead’, but the realism in the visuals, translates the pain in Karthi’s rocky fort wall jumps or the narrow alley falls. The actor scores in all his acquittance shots with the female leads. Be it the trance when he meets Nandhini in close quarters or the credulous smile on meeting Kundhavai for the first time or his flirtatious equation with Poongulalai in the middle of the ocean- Karthi’s innate lucidity, precisely amplifies his portrayal of the, most sort after character in the novel.

Aishwarya Rai as Nandhini, emotes through deep focuses in her eyes- seduction on its foreground, suppressing her love for Adhithya in its middle ground and an undying hunger for revenging the betrayers in the background of her bloodshot eyes.

The synergy between the powerful character Kundhavai and the actor Trisha who plays the part, delivers a magic on-screen. The actor’s personal traits are in perfect sync with the on-screen character helping her nail it with ease. Her smirk on seeing Vandhityadevan, her disregard for Nandini, her sibling rivalry with Adhitya, her decisive participation in polity, spreading her protective wings around her friend Vaanathi, extending motherly warmth towards her invalid father- Trisha does it all with her head held high, not in pride but in confidence, which is true to the character she plays.

Vikram plays, Aadhithya, a confused guilt tripper, withdrawing from his unsuccessful love, shifting blames and besieging cities for wrong reasons. Resemblance to his ‘Raavan’ character, inevitably clouds his performance discharging it as repetitive, but the actor’s valorous prowess and fury are engrossing.

The one actor who surprises, is Jayam Ravi, whose subtlety is a striking contrast to the other characters. The actor diligently erects a persona of a controlled thinker with great clarity in his thoughts, constructively shaping our perspectives of the Raja Raja Chola’s early life. The actor’s moderate musculature, his variational strength in tone, his serene yet stern eyes, his unassuming kindness- it's a revelation for both the actor and his character.

The fabled music score and consequential camera work, compliments the performances, extending the viewers a strong emotional connect with the lives of the royals. The screenplay makes the royals climb down their pedestals to be one among us, making their responsibilities ours, to protect the Chola kingdom from the traitors.

The nail biting mid-ocean stunt choreography of the Prince Arulmozhi and Vandhityathevan’s fight with the Pandiya sympathizers in the twenty minutes, leaves you content, especially when AR Rahman tries to recreate magic, by echoing the scores of MS Vishwanath from legendary MRG movies.

We walk away with a positive note- ‘Who saved the Prince? The splendor of the story is fittingly justified in the onscreen version, the key being minimal green screen VFX compositions. The narrative and visual realism, were reminiscent of our imaginative world of the Chola Dynasty.

Gargi

 Gargi

2022, Tamil, Sony Liv, 8.2/10IMDB, Directed by Gautham Ramachandran

The premise is an apparent inspiration from the many disturbing headlines we wake up to- Child Abuse. Not many make it to the headlines, but out of those that make it, the vivid ones are the most frightful ones and the premise reminded me of the 2018 case of a differently abled 11 year girl raped by the plumber, electrician, lift operator, security guard and gardener.

The makers choose to tell the story of the accused and goes further to exhibit the 'fourth eye perspective'. While the female protagonist's eyes witness her father being accused, the third eye's intuition, indicates her father after all might not be an accused. But the fourth eye, connects to the consciousness of the universe and to her creation as a girl child- The 'girl's instinct' about the obscured side of her frail father.

The film intends to rip the prototype rapist image from the minds of the children and their parents. Film like the1984 'Kai Kodukkum Kai' to the most recent web series 'Suzhal' in 2022, pointed to the trusted timid personalities, who were behind the crime against women and children. Gargi is another attempt to reinstate the fact that appearance, family background and age might be deceptive casualness, when perversion in men are concerned. While the film like 'Peranbu' went to depict the dilemmas of a father, about the sexuality of his differently abled adolescent girl, Gargi's strength lies in its crux -a young girl's hostile confrontation of the sexuality of her loving father.

The paralleling suspicions to deliberately divert the attention of the viewers are aplenty, including the widower father of the victim (played by the fantastic Salem Saravanan), the security guard colleague of the accused, the police officer curiously named Bennix Jeyaraj, reminding the custodial death of 2020 and the muscled henchmen of the victim's father.

The writing and casting are key in films that handle emotional contents like this and Sai Pallavi fits the bill. Her subtlety in switching emotions from compassion to bleak emptiness, from pensive sadness to perseverance, from conviction to fatigue, are seamless. The actress has beautifully evolved and seems to have mastered the art of shedding the lurking smirk of her 'Premam' days.

Struggling lawyers taking up abandoned lawsuits due to public hatred is not new in cinema and layering the character with a trait of stammering under stress, isn't very enterprising, one would think. But the success remains in the casting, as it seems to add newer dimension to such heroic characters. Kaali Venkat's inherent 'lack of guile', works completely in his favor, when he plays lawyer 'Indrans Kaliaperumal's role. The actor's proficiency in slipping into this, 'obliging, nothing to lose' attitude, adds to the might of the plot and the director steering away from any possible cliche chemistry, between the lead female and Indrans's character, adds to the depth of the screenplay.

The director chooses to alleviate the discomfort of the intense drama by synchronizing his non-linear story telling, through complimenting instrumental musical arrangements. Music director, the 'Thaikudam Bridge' fame violinist, Govind Vasantha, renders peices of music, to adapt almost all agonizing plot points that duos with the swirling visuals, implying the washing away of the impurities.

Voluntary apertures in certain crucial sequences, seem to have been stitched to deliver highs and lows in the screenplay, but it disturbs the viewing and at some point, even questions the attentiveness of the viewers. One too many of such sequences being, the video evidence produced by Indrans in the court room. The 'ultimatum tone' of the victim's father, emerges as a surprise to the viewers, in opposite to the composed exchange of dialogues in the real time scene.

Sadly, the mutilated final copy of the movie is yet another hindrance to the flow of the film, for even the retrospective revisit of the trailer, fills the blanks of some real high points of the film. Non-cohesive editing lets the screen play down in few instances and also few key characters stumbles due to that. The characters including the mother, the journalist and the fiance are nearly fossilized after a point. The 'out of the blue' confrontational dialogues- the police officer asserting that the team would have worked months together following Gargi's father before arresting him, Gargi's mom trusting in fate and not working towards winning it, she being unhappy that unfortunately Gargi happens to be a weak girl rather than a macho boy, are few such instances.

The scenario involving the sexual abuse of a young girl were handled with dignity. For reason unknown, I personally would have wished the makers not disclose the face of the child in the end, but it was vital I guess, for the story teller, to insist that the victim and the accused family have moved on to have a normal life, instead of hiding behind the past.

The makers march with pride, until the intention of the film is seemingly invalidated, with the paradox of 'regressive puberty ceremony', that unveils in the name of progressive representation, as the credits role- the victim gracing the convict's daughter's ceremony.

The intention of the maker is muddled in few closure instances, like when the confused journalist, chides her media house for pushing them for 'flash news feeds', which makes them source uninvestigated facts, is an irony. One such baseless hunch of her's, turns a flash news content and ends up becoming 'unluckily' a true fact. The final preachy 'pronouncement' on womanhood by a character who is least influential in the film, is a deliberate attempt to avoid the cliche of the lead role from delivering the same.

The words of 'hope' that begins with a sarcastic tone, does disenchant a little, for 'HOPE' is an optimistic state of mind. The later half of the statement does vouch for the intention of the makers, where it talks about 'fighting the battle out as a woman'. But the damage might have been done by then, to some weak women souls, for they already might be an emotionally drained parent of a GIRL child.

The teams proposes to teach children to stay vigil at all time and to stay strong if they had to battle it out, with the child abusers, who majority of the time are close relatives. The difficult part is to teach the girl child, NOT to spare, if the close relative turns out to be her own Father. It is a walk on eggshells for mothers, to teach their children to stay vigil even around father. Incestuous fathers might be a taboo subject in the patriarchal society of ours but it doesn't mean that it doesn't exist.

The film intends to touch upon those lines even if it doesn't involve an incestuous father in its story line. On the contrary it houses a father who protects his young child, from one such sex monger and advices her to stay strong in such situation, just by thinking of him as a power house of her strength. Eventually the film plays to the maker's success, as it's lead woman, with the very words of her father, echoing in her mind, trying to bring him under the law, to be punished for a crime that he had asked her to be vigil about- except now the offence involves 'someone else's loving daughter'.

It might hurt the sentiments of the viewers who are loving fathers themselves, but the world is not free of these kind of fathers who might be sexually preoccupied, adolescent regressive, instrumental sexual gratifiers, emotionally dependent or angry retaliators.

The film might not be a popular family watch but certainly a must watch for women who are mothers, to educate themselves and their girl children, rather children in general, as the reported sexual offences against young boys have alarmingly surpassed the girl's percentage, to 52.94%. 

Malayankunju

Malayankunju

Survival dramas are tricky to get it right, for it can become a tedious watch, if not complimented with the right balance of emotional elements. The strength of the film is that it imbibes casteism in its narration, breaking it free from the monotony and adding few intriguing layers to blanket the plot with.

The novel premise shadowing the livelihood of an electronic repairman Anil Kumar alias Anikuttan, has been seamlessly brought to life, with a profound performance by the mysteriously fascinating Fahad. Sporting a despised look on his face and an overt disgust in his eyes, the actor gets in to the skin of the character, that holds prejudice against certain people in the small community that he lives in.

Anikuttan is fighting a battle within and his mother, (played by the fantastic Jaya S Kurup), takes the brunt of her son's pent-up anger, as his moods swing. The actor's offensive behavior makes us cringe in disdain and his infuriation towards the crying infant in the neighborhood, characterizes him as this intolerant, mean human. But we viewers begin to empathize, as the actor triumphs in illustrating his mental exertion, when the sub plots of his sister's marriage and his father's death, crosses path in the otherwise linear narration.

Blinking is an 'edit point' for cinematographers but when actors like Fahad master the art of looking straight in to the camera, his emotions are conveyed intensely and are often reciprocated beautifully by actors opposite him. Fahad's non-blinking eyes along with his petite body of a commoner, prompts the viewers to experience the moment that the actor is seemingly experiencing on-screen. The actor is a pro in mastering his eye-line during his monotone shots and his control over his blinks, manipulates the viewers to make them believe in the character he plays.

The 20 odd minute sequence of the actor trying to survive the natural disaster, glues us to our seats. The intercuts of visuals that represent Anikuttan's thoughts in his near-death experience, evokes a heavenly composition under water. Those visuals are nothing but his thoughts, his goodness within, his true self, the one without the camouflage of his 'unexpressed anger'. I personally was familiar with those visions. I bet most of the viewers would have related to those visuals and the words of Anikittan's father, (impressively played by Jaffer Idukki)- the alternate personality of an individual, the alter ego.

Actor Mammooty's 'Puzhu' threads on a similar premise, but the protagonist's alter ego never stands a chance to win the evil within, as the maker chooses to speak, how one succumbs to the overwhelming power of societal intolerance.

But here the maker chooses to prioritize positivity as an effective approach to pursue happiness in life. Under the debris and the leaking sky, the infant's cry is no longer an exasperation for Anikuttan, but a cry of hope, a cry of compassion, a cry that reminds him of his guilt, a cry that awakens the survival instincts in him, a cry that leads to the search for the 'Malayankunju' (which translates 'tribal child', if my interpretation is right)- an analogy for the search of 'fellow feeling', that would vanquish the 'bigotry'.

Anikuttan's urge to see the infant in the neonatal ICU in the climax, symbolizes the keen intention of the makers in restoring 'Faith' in humanity. 

Iravin Nizhal

 Iravin Nizhal

2022, Tamil, 8.7/10 IMDB, Directed by R. Parthiban

A performing theater 'Play' has its viewers come prepared, suspending their disbelieves, to engage themselves in the story telling, turning a blind eye to the changing props and backdrops. The single shot movie experience seemed very similar to that, where we follow the performances through the cinematographer's view finder, ignoring the shifting backdrops. The brain child of a creator gets translated onscreen only if it is backed by dedicated artists and what we witness onscreen here, is the mighty courage of the maker and the sheer perseverance of the crew.

The director chooses to go back and forth in the time line of the protagonist's life. The changing scenes transcends the viewers in to 'spectators' rather, for it feels that we are witnessing a live 'pop up kalidoscope'. And the screening of the 'Making' prior to the actual film, had familiarized us with the actual floor plan by then. Even though the film has the attributes of a theater, it is way more comprehensive than that, for the mis-timing of even the tiniest action after the camera starts rolling, has a domino effect. A miniscule lag, potentially might affect the following sequences, the lighting of the lamp for instance, which takes three attempts and might have failed the actress to sync in the continuing song's choreography. Again we have to give it to the actors, for they never let the Maker, down, from managing uncertainties with confidence and continuing to emote genuinely through out.

What startles the viewers, is the meticulous preparation right from the conception of the idea in the Director's head to the untiring rehearsals, through which the entire crew seemed to have conceived the director's thoughts in the exact perception of his. To comprehend the entire plot and to correlate it with the changing costumes, changing props and changing time line is a mammoth task and the team seemed to have slogged to achieve this perfection.

AR Rahman's music, shoulders the responsibilities of resonating the dark mood right, liberating the maker to twist the tale as he desired. The lighting that creates days and nights in various sets in permutation, is an added strength. So is each one of the artist who play not just to their strength but to the strength of the film as a whole, from Brigida Saga, Anandhakrishna to the little girl who plays Arpudha, calling her father 'Thappa', which ironically means 'by mistake'.

Unlike other films, the entire crew comes under the scanner if they collectively don't justify the script with their individual performances. But at the same time, only if the performance of an actor is in the right balance, it would have enabled the other artist to perform without being panic stricken at any given uncertainty. Movie making is solely team work and the zenith of Iravin Nizhal is in the 'conviction' of the team, that kept their sparks alive till they got the final take right.

The half hour 'making' screened prior to the actual 96 minutes movie, did dutifully 'set up' the expectations for the masses who were unaware of what they were about to witness. But the voice over in the 'making', did tone down the miracle to an extend, which otherwise would have happened organically. The engaging story-telling would have done it on its own, had the technical nuances involved, were kept aside, to be told after the story had engrossed you. The brain's interruption, at least mine, causing involuntary correlation of the scenes in the 'making' with the ones in the movie, when it actually occurs, unconventinaly proved to be more than just a spoil sport. The essence of the film in that instance seems to be lost, which costs big time, in the already complex story.

If I were to revisit it on OTT, would remember to watch the making after the film.