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Vettayadu Vilayadu Gallery *ing ’40ish’ Kamal, here and here[requires user/pwd].
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Vettayadu Vilayadu Gallery *ing ’40ish’ Kamal, here and here[requires user/pwd].
kirukkal.com 
34 responses to “The 40ish Kamal”
He look like Alavandaan and Kalaingan Kamal.
looks younger than the one in Mumbai Xpress and Vasool Raja MBBS.
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Just a quick info for Kamal Fans.
“Anbe Sivam” is getting released in Hindi named “Sivam”.The movie getting dubbed in Hindi.
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whoa..its awesome..kinda thriller eh..?..looks like he ran out of ammo..goin bonkers thinkin bout the story..hope kammy doesn’t make another boo-boo like alavandhan..
ippadithaan pesikiraanunglamae nammo pasango andhaanda..enna guru saar..
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Wow. Thalaivar rocks!!Superb aa keedhu photos
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🙂 Exactly the pic that i was searchin for.
Seriously KAMAL ROX!
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Ade, Kamalna Kamal than. Thalaivar yenna panalum supera irukkum
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off topic,but has anyone heard anything about Anniyan music release. I read somewhere that Anniyan music release is going to be on April 21st, but haven’t seen it yet on Raaga.com.
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Anniyan Expected to come out by beginning of May. Sujatha has given a bit review of the music on Ananda Vikatan (and a snippet of harris Jeyaraj).
BTW, Guys. Did you listen to “Poo Poothadhu” from Mumbai Xpress. I think the lyrics is quite awesome.
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Eventhough Kamal is made up a lot, his wrinkles show up the age.
Eventhough Rajini is elder to him, Chandramukhi get up doesn’t reveal his age that much as Kamal’s did in M.E.
As somebody mentioned about hindi ‘Sivam’, I just wanted to recall the news that Kamal & Madhavan are fuming already that they were not aware of this dubbing issue. They might hv wanted a pie out of it.
But unfortuantely, the producers sold the rights to a bollywood middle man at a cheap rate.. and the hindi satellite prices are phenomenal…Poor producer, kamal, madhavan…
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Anniyan music released guys, so check it out.
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thnks Nitin. Somehow got one song from Anniyan called “Kadhal Yaanai”. Techno Song – very good.
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Bashing Kamal and Rajni
http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20050502&fname=Rajnikant+%28F%29&sid=1
I wrote to this author not to lump Kamal and Rajni together.Obviously the guy hasnt seen or has forgotten Hey Ram, Virumandi etc.
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getting back to mumbai xpress, i saw the movie finally today and i was totally surprised to see that the movie which entertained, was funny and had the theatre in splits has been bearing the brunt of totally negative reviews. No offence meant, but lazygeek’s review also seems to have painted it as a movie with more cons and limited pros.
some of the patented complaints that i saw were:
a) cinematography was not upto mark: no doubt there were spots were it was obvious that it was in the digital format. given the fact that it was the first attempt and more importantly, i would prefer to see them experiment with newer technology in movies like this where cinematography is not that critical as opposed to a movie where it is but a silent character.
b) illayaraja was missing: mebbe in the background score, but i really did not miss him at the end of the movie for he was there where he was needed and preferred to keep silent else where, for his score would added onto the noise. besides, as for the claim that the songs need not have been hyped so much, as they stand alone, the songs are good. so just because they were missing completely or used in the background does not lower their quality
c) crazy mohan is sorely missed: again, if that was the case, the theatre would not have been laughing throughout. “pinnaadi lendu vaazhai moodu” “when flood over head, what john what joseph” “indha pakkam yenga akka pichai edukkum, anda pakkam enga amma paathipaanga” are some examples of humourous dialogues that really kept us in splits, including a rajini fan. could crazy mohan have made it more funnier? we will never know? but more importantly, has kamal done a good job with the dialogues, his first for a comedy? YES. so while a crazy mohan he may not be, kamal still keeps the movie rolling with his equally humourous dialogues.
d) kamal is doing the same innocent role he does in comedies: and it still works in this movie. it fits him like a glove, and that truly cannot be a negative. if you want assortment from him, he has done more than his share of assorted characters that he can afford to play himself or ordinary ones in comedies. also, even if you look at his previous comedies, while character may be leaning towards innocent, the characterizations themeselves and the comedy/dialogues etc were different to suit that characters. that is why a panchanthanthiram is still different than a pammal k sambandham!
e) manisha koirala love story is not strong enough: there is no love story in that movie. even kamal says, let us marry and learn to love each other. so it is not a love story, it is an arranged marriage that is all.
f) nitpicking: how did the crane lift up pasupathy when kamal is dangling up in midair. if kamal has picturized him hooking pasupathy and the boy to the crane in minute detail and then started climbing up the cables, the same people would have said why dumb it down like we cannot understand this silly thing!
climax was too abrupt: ideally the movie ended when mumbai xpress was asked to go and then nasir tells sharad saxena to catch avinasi. the 3 minute extension was just a filler to end all that is well. so basically there was no abrupt ending, for when the cops started chasing the train, all of us climax is near.
in conclusion, i feel a majority of them went to see this movie only to find faults not to enjoy it. is this another mmkr? no. is this better than mmkr? i don’t know. but even mmkr was a flop when it was released and then people started talking about it. is this a good comedy that entertained, despite sluggish portions in the second half and some technical aspects that need finessing. A RESOUNDING YES! more importantly, is this a family entertainer with believable characters? UNDOUBTEDLY! kamal delivered what he said he wanted to deliver. a family entertainer. watch it, enjoy it and laugh happily.
for ALL IS WELL THAT ENDS WELL! 😉
iyengarkatz
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PS:
the most common complaints that i talked about is not all lazygeek’s comments, but collected from various comments over the net.
iyengarkatz
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Iyengar !
Happy you saw the movie on a very positive note. But where did you see Negative fumes about Mumbai Xpress. Nobody burnt the movie.
Very simply, if there are holes in the movie, throwing light on it will identify where the holes are. Most of us have liked it. Only we would have even liked it, if it were even better.
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keerthi,
there is a difference between pointing out the holes and saying despite this i enjoyed the movie and pointing out the holes saying this is why the movie is not worth the time. a predominant number of people have said the latter. if you believed in the former, your views would reflect the end point which is pass or fail, watchable or avoidable. you cannot string together a garland of negatives and then say we were only pointing out the holes with this.
anywayz, no use fighting on this issue. i had to write that piece for i enjoyed the movie with my friends. this despite having read a lot of comments that seemed to indicate the movie was not worthwhile.
end of my post on mumbai xpress reviews..getting ready for the vettayadu vilayadu 😉
cheers,
katz
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Iyengarkatz, I really appreciated your points in your extensive dissection of Mumbai Xpress. I also felt the same. Most people expect a industry changing effort Kamal does a home production so they set such high standards and then don’t see what is good about the movie. Oh and btw, Kamal’s dialogue ROCKS!
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Iyengarkatz, i agree with you. But everyone here should check out the hindi version of mumbai xpress, its way better than tamil version, i was shocked, saurabh shukhla’s dialogues are WOW, more like Crazy Mohan’s comedy.
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Iyengarkatz!
good points put up there and glad that u liked the movie as well! (since am finding more and more ppl who hated it with a capital H, incl hardcore Kamal fans)
But, did you really find Lazy’s review that much tilting towards the negative side?
P.S.:- My crib with the review was only about the role of IR.
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Nitin, Per Kamal’s interview to rediff, Saurabh Shukla just re-wrote Kamal’s dialogues in hindi. Probably he used the right words. I am not sure though.
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srihari,
like i said, i am using the collective feedback i have read on the net. as for your specific question, lazygeek’s review seemed flat to me personally and i say this only because i went through all of his reviews and when i read his review of a movie like boys or saamy and compare it to this movie, it really did not read as positively as i thought he would have liked the movie. but that again is an individual taste. maybe he really did not enjoy it as much as i did. or more importantly, as i hoped he would! 🙂
cheers,
katz
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PART 2/2……….
THE FLAW
As far as I am concerned, the movie Mumbai Express is a 2 hour brilliant movie.
But a 3 Hour good movie.
And that’s the flaw.
I loved the new angle in the second half…. I can even take him wanting to marry Manisha Koirala… Hmmmmm….. just about.
The change in pace and all that: beautiful; the tender moments.
But the whole angle with the Nasser (ACP), Saxena, Santhana Bharati…The 40 minutes of that sequence is what I am unhappy with.
It was unnecessary…. Did not add value… more over, the movie could have gone on in that manner for another 3 hours – or it could have ended any time…. Arbitrary.
And that’s the flaw.
THE VERDICT
Thankfully, the 40 minutes is not boring. It is funny. So, the effect of the flaw is only this:
Imagine a Stand Up comedian. He finishes his 1-hour act to standing ovation. Seeing the response, he decides to extend his act by another 20 minutes. But this extension is made up of some random jokes… funny, very funny ones… but random ones, nevertheless. And he can see the audience rolling over in laughter…. And when he takes the final bow…. he wonders why there was no standing ovation this time.
THE EXCEPTION
This time, I have no qualms in saying “Mumbai Express is a Fine movie… with all its flaws”
And I have not said that about Hey Ram or Abhay or Anbe Sivam.
Watch Mumbai Express to see what genius can do when it applies its mind fully and honestly to its task. That’s why it is genius. The work.
And that’s the “majority” of Mumbai Express for you!
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Mumbai Express (Tamil)20 April 2005
PART 1/2…….
Kamal Hassan is a genius. I say this AFTER seeing the movie Mumbai Express (Tamil).
I say this with the knowledge that, there might be many who, even as they read the first few lines of this review, will dismiss the statement as a “hyper” vent from a die-hard fan. For long I have been accused – and I use that word in its fullest meaning – as a fan of Kamal Hassan.
Very condescendingly I have been told – almost as if a patient is being informed of his disease by a patronizing psychologist – that I say Kamal Hassan is great only because I like him.
To this day I do not understand why in the world they don’t see the simple truth! That: I LIKE Kamal Hassan only because he is GREAT.
THE MOVIE
There are good movies and then there are bad ones. And then there are some movies which are confused about which way they want to go.
These movies will have flashes of brilliance, interspersed with flaws. And usually that would be the death knell for the movie – Hey Ram. Abhay. Anbe Sivam
And then there comes this movie where-in the “good” parts are brilliant…. And the “bad” parts are good. Confused?
Watch Mumbai Express.
The first half of the movie, the afore-mentioned “good” part shows such brilliance!
The PERFORMANCES of the actors…. Pasupathy, Kamal Hassan, Vaiyapuri….. the Horse!!!!!
The VISUAL LANGUAGE… some breath taking shots… stylized shots that flow into each other ever so smoothly… the colors…!
The SOUND EFFECTS…. Be it the omnipresent Aeroplane that threatens to run over the kidnappers – demanding they stand still in abeyance of its passing overhead…Beautiful! Or the succinctly placed Horse Neighing. Re-recording music!
All these elevate the movie to a certain level. And in this new level, the rules are changed. There are new players in this new game of comedy.
Humour is explored through the set properties, the sound effects, the pauses of silence… camera angles, deadpan looks… and yes, I almost forgot… the dialogues.
So don’t be surprised if you see on screen “Nothing”- some actors standing still, the camera in close up, and a horse’s neigh… and you find me rolling over in my seat laughing my head off!
Yes, the rules have changed…
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Lazy, Nitin!
Most of the dialogues were translated to hindi by Saurabh Shukla.. But there were some vernacular stuff added in the hindi version which enhance the comic effect of some scenes! There is a joke with a wordplay on the word “saala” which is there in hindi which I suspect is Kamal’s idea (because, no native speaker would have got the idea of playing with two meanings of the word “Saala”.. Its the guy who is new to this language who is fascinated by those words). But, Saurabh Shukla rocked and was much better than Santhana Bharathi!
similarly there are some vernacular version that were added in the tamil version too like Kamal saying “Aduthu Coimbatore thaan varum!” to Santhana Bharathi.. and the now-well-known “Head maela flood poyiduthu.. inimae john ponaa enna.. johnson ponaa enna?” etc.
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Hey Guys..
See this article in OutLook India magazine..
http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20050502&fname=Rajnikant+(F)&sid=1
I completely agree with the author..
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No comments on the article as I don’t want to oppose S.Anand’s juvenile idea about tamil films.
But this is not the first time he is writing such an article. All Tamil movie reviews in Outlook (yeah, they do feature in Outlook sometimes mostly if its a Kamal/Rajini starrer!) are written by him and he trashes all of them alike.
Pointers:
a news item on Anbe Sivam, Review of Anbe Sivam, Virumaandi, Baba, Abhay and Yuva.
I am not commenting on the reviews (nevertheless, irritated the way he trashed Anbe Sivam, Virumaandi and Yuva). But these are the only reviews he had written among tamil movies (though, the reviews of ‘Abhay’, and ‘Yuva’ were actually on the hindi versions). Outlook carried a separate article on Bala when Pithamagan was released with a lot of expectations, but a review on the movie was not written. Among the movie reviews, S. Anand writes only reviews of tamil movies and his reviews on all these movies were published and he panned all of them. But, in the article pointed out in the recent issue, he talks about the greatness of Thulluvadho Ilamai. Gimme a break!
Disclaimer: I am not sure if the ‘Abhay’ review was actually written by S. Anand, because I dont remember the reviewer quite distinctively. ‘Yuva’ and other tamil movie reviews were written by him for sure. The reviews published on the web, unfortunately do not contain the name of the reviewer though the corresponding issues have the name published always.
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Sriram,
I havent read S.Anand’s reviews before..ut still i agree with him that Cinema needs new ideas,crativity..how long one can see rajini kanth funny fighiting stunts and his dancing ( I remember one day a kid was asking me wont anyone tell him that to stop dancing like this)..dont you think a Movies should be more realistic …
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Hasitha, not all movies should be realistic. it is ok to have a few. but not all. Fantasy is the key element. I dont like the idea of Showing Life on screen. We have windows and doors for that. Avvai Shanmugi was not realistic, but the idea is appreciated. Like !
Rajni kanth does it because his fans like it. True that most of the mind-sets are changing, yet.. in the core people still want Rajni to do his usual Gimmicks. (I prefer to Ban Vijayakanth from dancing…).
Prasanna “Standing Ovation” example is too good.
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Hasitha!
My response was just to show his previous write-ups in Outlook. As somebody had previously pointed out in this comments section, he wants to comfortably forget the wonderful works of Kamal Haasan and term him as one of the “50-plus men romancing women fit to be their daughters”.
do you think only When no one comes forward to make movies with him (Kamal Haasan), he writes and produces one himself (Rajkamal Films) and gets old friends like Singeetham Srinivasa Rao (Pushpak, Appu Raja) to direct them, or safely remakes Munnabhai MBBS (as Vasoolraja MBBS)?
To call a “success” like Thulluvadho Ilamai, a better prospect (new ideas, creativity!) for the future of tamil cinema than a “Hey! Ram” (way back, he wrote the classic Mahanadhi!)…. Ahem!
Leave all this aside. The article is not even being politically correct. Is there no producer ready to make a movie with Kamal and is that why he has been producing his own movies. Last heard is that Kamal was paid a whopping 4.5 crores (for a callsheet of 45 days) for Vasoolraja MBBS!
He wants to criticise the superstardom present in the industry and include all the leading ageing stars and criticise them all alike. In this repect (“healthy condition of tamil cinema”), I think placing Rajini and Kamal alongside is illogical, if not blasphemous. Not that I am criticising Rajini. Poeple adore what he does that way. Not the likes of what he did in “Aval Appadi Thaan”. Such state is there in every film industry and should attribute more to fanhood rather than the stars themselves.
Theodore Bhaskaran (that he was mentioned in Anand’s article) is a tamil film critic/writer who goes gaga over the yesteryear movies.. but thinks 90s just doesnt have movies significant to tamil film history. He is another victim of caught-in-his-time-critic who is not able to appreciate the good stuff around now. Do read his book (it won a national award for besk book on films) “Eye of the Serpent – An introduction to Tamil cinema [1996]”. I liked the book for having recorded all the years of tamil filmdom. But it clearly left out all of the movies made in the late 80’s and 90’s, but included some duds of the early 40’s and 50’s just because then films themselves were magical things to happen then and all that. His record of the significant movies in 80’s were all classy. But, all that an important filmmaker like Mani Rathnam gets is a single mention in the book for his movie Nayagan kindly added by him to the list of important tamil films.
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Hmmmm… you guys have lot of filmi knowledge..
Anyway i just pray that one day the dynasty of this stardom comes to an end..and many young talents gets a chance to show their talent.
Like how revolution came in Music industry ..a time when SPB & chitra likes were the only singers to this day where we have many shreya ghosal ,KK ..etc (Hatsoff to A.R.Rehman who started this trend)
This stardom will only make richest even more richest.
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I am feeling strange that i did such a digging on the web…
I somehow found that it was indeed S. Anand, who wrote Abhay’s review too thru this archives page of that outlook issue which says “S. Anand On Abhay” and then gives the link to the review!
My main point here is that, he was given this task of reviewing only for movies with excessive star value and he thrashed all of them. Fine. So, Outlook as well goes by star value! So what’s the point?
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.. and Hasitha!!
I got your intention, that young new talent should be encouraged, while you commented on that article. :))
I was just telling how inconsistent/shocking has all outlook reviews/articles on tamil cinema in Outlook has been.
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H a s h i t a. I agree with your point. Young and talented should be recognized, and brought to light. So, some one immediately give me a chance. Maniratnam, Are you listening …?
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kamal looks 40’ish right!
but rajini he looks above 65!
i think he should be the first to retire from tamil cinema. i pity rajini fans. he looks like a thaathaa.
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