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In Kollywood we (never) trust

**Hasn’t been spell checked. Was just blowing some gas. Read at your own risk**

The latest picture postcard of Rajini[looking energetically as in Billa/Mr Bharath] in Sivaji makes me fear that this Shankar flick will also turn out to be another Baba. Baba was a flop mainly due to the hype that was created by media. Now that blogs are trying to match the media in every other area, news is spreading like nobody’s business on blogosphere.

If only someone kept track of that picture, it would possible be the most e-mailed picture in the last week or so. I got atleast 6 forwards of the same picture from various newspapers. Sujatha and Shankar should be grinding their teeth to catch hold of that photographer who paparazzi’ed the whole thing. Me too. Just because I am going to miss the surprise of meeting the ‘old’ rajini in a ‘new’ movie. Starting now, we will have numerous stories floating around on Sivaji that would even entice Shankar to include in the original script.

I was also bloddy irritated about Selvaraghavan’s pre-release marketing of Pudhupettai. While making a whole movie on gangsters, an interview that’s sounding as cheap as, “This is a special movie for Sneha. She is acting as a prostitute. It would be a milestone in her career”, doesn’t suit. For someone like him, I would expect a rather sublime interview and not being so obvious about the characters which spoils the whole fun of watching a movie. I care a damn if its a milestone for Sneha or not. Especially not before the movie. The pre-release marketing should only being hinting at what the movie is aiming to do. Whether its going to be a milestone or not is for the audience to decide. Also this attitude of glorifying someone is he shaves his head or he acts with lungi or if a heroine acts with a saree through out a movie, doesn’t stand a chance to make an impression. Come on dude, I’m expecting Pudhupettai should do atleast 50% of what Marti’s GoodFellas did to Hollywood. If only its turning to be a pot boiler, I’m no more bothered. BTW, Pudhupettai has many context based songs/themes that may not be once-more numbers but they will sure be an enjoyable watch.

subbudu

29 responses to “In Kollywood we (never) trust”

  1. Rightly said LG..no one can beat Maniratnam on this….When are they going to realize this mistake…we have seen numerous films go down just because it was overhyped…..

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  2. lazy,

    good analysis. i have off-late become fond of what u write because u sometimes echo my thoughts to the ditto ..

    I thought puthupettai music was pretty impressive.

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  3. I think The hype is too much.. yes. It has happened in Shankars movies. Indian snaps fell out on Ananda Vikatan. But i dont think anyting is going to stop Sivaji. (im not a rajini fan, but still think this would be a good hit.)

    I got pissed of with Selvaraghavan, when he says “He might be a murderer.. but he is honest.. he might do crime, but he is a good man..” … someone has to give him light.

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  5. Sameer: Why waste bandwidth over the most emailed picture of the month? Ya, even if it is Rajini and actually because it is Rajini, it has been an overkill…And it looks like you are the only one who hasn’t seen it yet.. 😉

    LG: Seriously, Selvaraghavan-ku ivalo hype namma kudukave koodadhu….:p

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  6. Hi LG,

    Cool cool!!

    Sivaji jeykum..jeykanum. Ungala, Enna madhiri kodana kodi rasikargal irukara varaikum karai sethidalam.

    Irundhalum neenga solra madhiri surprise poiduthu. Ana intha madhiri photola thalaivera pakra thirupthy iruke…

    Analum intha Selvaghavan rousu thaangala, konjam kandichu thaan vekenum.

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  7. Narasi, antha sottai wiggu pottundu irukurdu romba periya vishayama, kadasile, adhu narindu oothikuporthu. LG, Maniratnam is the best in this,so far I have never known the entire story of his movies before watching the movie. Selvaraghavan & Shankar semma hype pannuvanga for their movies, but in the end they just flop, like anniyan, adengapa, “He who comes form hell, is afraid of hot ashes”, and the movie was a cheap mixture of all his previous films.

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  9. Cipher, I’ve also mentioned about Mani Ratnm’s clandestine hype for his movie without revealing the movie’s nuances and ofcourse the script. And I think he is probably the only one who has kept it as a secret till date.

    Hawkeye, Thanks and yeah we all think the same but only a handful of them from the industry think that way. There is just about so much to learn from hollywood. Atleast looking Indian cinema as a money spinning business.

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  10. Sameer, The whole idea is not to have that picture or even a link to that picture.

    Anti, I am not sure why think of Selvaraghavan the other way. Maybe we should do the long pending telephone talk 🙂

    For me he is one of kollywood’s hope to make good films. Kahal Konden and 7G are just starting points but they deliver hope to me in terms being a believer in what he does without pretences. Ofcourse he is very business minded but that comes next if the movie holds good. Don’t you accept.

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  11. Narsi, I am thinking not to put up any more sivaji related nes unless is very very very compelling and completely gets me blown away. Except for the music, I don’t think I wanna write about it. But noone cares for it. It will published in every single blog/newspaper for want of sensationalism and the whole surprise is then chidambara ragasuyam !!

    Reagan, I think they are two different types of expectations. If I want to compare Good Fellas to Pudhupettai, I would compare King Kong to Sivaji. They are different at different levels.

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  12. Hi

    Even Shankar was at his best to maintain secrecy till his movie Anniyan. But it is not the case now for Shivaji.

    If Rajini signs a new movie with Maniratnam, I am sure you can get lots and lots of news about that movie also.

    Expectations are more because of “The Boss”.

    CrazyGeek

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  13. Not justifying Selvaraghavan’s act in any way -but probably he was just trying to cheer Sneha up after her suicide attempt a few weeks back.

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  14. you need to be a kamalhaasan to do both, i mean, give an interview which the plot, briefs the personality of the hero, and the theme of the subject, but NOT telling the story….one clasic ex is Virumaandi…he gave elaborate interview about the scene, lot of stills, very good and curiosity rising[than sivaji] was published, still no one was able to guess the storyline

    such a man he is

    he gave interview for anbesivamaalavanthanheyraammahanathi ect but sti the suspense stayed. that is kamalhaasan

    in sivaji, wether its hyped or not, winning the mass manasu is thoughest thing.

    this sivaji stillscoopnews all can reach and excite only netizens like us, but the real public, whom, has the power to flip or flop a film is away or not-caring

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  16. ada ! Rajini padathula yedhuppa Kadhai ? Rajini podhume !!

    Basha was hit despite the huge Hype.. Mahanadhi was a flop because of expectations.. Anniyan was a hit despite the hype.. Probably Hype works differently for different times..

    Sujatha has written a similar write up on AV, few weeks back.. like what you have written LG.

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  17. LG,
    I am very very wary of “Pudhupettai”. On one end, I expect some exceptional fare; but at the same time I am scared of how mediocre and cliched Selvaraghavan can get.

    Keerthivasan,
    “Mahanadhi was a flop because of expectations..”
    As far as I remember, Mahanadhi was very low-profile and didn’t even carry the minimal hype of a Kamal movie.. and in Chennai (released in Anand; unthinkable now) it did complete 150 days, the fact which we fans use time and again to claim Mahanadhi was a semi-hit 😛 :P. According to hearsay, it was a complete wash-out in the south.

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  18. zero,

    as far as i can remember.. mahanadhi had no advertisements or pre-release hype. It was the softest release in kamal’s career.

    i thought it made extra-ordinary profits. The movie doesnt seem to have cost anything.. I thought it was a super hit.. i ams urprised by what you say.

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  19. LG,

    I guess you are confusing things here. One of the reasons for Baba’s failure was the fact that everything about the movie was such a closely guarded secret. That was one reason why Chandramukhi’s stills were released even while the film was being shot. Going by the same logic, may be that still was leaked out purposefully, just to lessen the hype.

    As for the hype, another main reason for Baba’s unprecedented hype was the fact that Thalaivar was acting in a movie after more than 3 years. The fact that this is Thalaivar’s second movie in 2 years should definitely assuage the hype that extra little bit.

    Having said all that, no matter how much ever Thalaivar & Shankar try to play down the hype (having a low-key pooja was one such attempt), the hype surrounding the movie is only going to become bigger. After all, how often do you have the best in the business joining hands like this. This is akin to Kamal joining hands with Mani Rathnam.

    Hawkeye,
    Mahanadhi can hardly be called a hit. It might have had a decent run in Madras. But down south, like Zero said, it was a complete washout. I still remember the film running to literally empty houses in the first week in Madurai.

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  20. I agree with Hawkeye that Mahanadhi had absolutely no pre-release marketing or big opening day bandhaas. It was probably the softest Kamal’s release.

    At the same time as Zero said it was a washout. Even in chennai when I watched the film for the 3rd during the 3rd week, there were hardly 25 people. However going by Vikatan’s review the crowd came to theatres atleast in chennai.

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  21. I thot ‘Pudupetai’ was based on ‘City of God’… on “growing up in a downtrodden locale, becoming a gangster to survive in a kill or be killed world….” but Goodfellas?

    Its funny how easy is it to speculate on a movie just by the TITLE or a Poster….or a one liner

    Like ‘Aanai’ with just a single line we can instantly recognize it as ‘Man on Fire’…

    Now, if only we could see Gautam’s Netflix queue when we was scripting Vetayadu Viladu… 🙂 but I sure hope at least he comes up with a original flik… he is one of few fresh directors left today…

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  23. Aramichittangala.. Pudhupettai and City of God! Adichivittutaangala…. :O
    Niruthanum.. ellathayum niruthanum. LG.. idhu ellam neenga kekkaradhu illaya???

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  24. Hawkeye,
    exactly. The release was ultra-soft. The movie didn’t have the minimal hype usually surrounded for a sizeable star’s film, leave aside Kamal Haasan (heck, it was released in Anand). and completing 150 days (albeit with quite a lot of empty screenings) can certainly be dubbed as a hit as I already pointed out :P. I saw it myself on 154th day in Anand theatre complex! So… it was a hit! :). But down south, it was a terrible wash-out, I hear.

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  25. LG,

    the problem is with our expectations. You (even i do considering the music) expect the movie to be some exceptional and unconventional fair that tamil cinemae has ever seen and that is why when you the director gives such comments for mere publicity, you feel bad. Ofcourse, hype is one thing which the cinema doesn’t survive these days. Do you think “Kanda Naal Muthal” could have become a hit without such hype and marketing techniques of Prakash raj. No way.

    Also about Rajini, just revealing the looks will not spoil anything as far as i believe considering the hype the writer sujatha gave on the script. Actually such keeping everything under wraps will lead to lot of rumors and hype than revealing it. For instance, from the day one of the shoot of Chandramukhi, the stills from the movie were available everywhere but that doesn’t stop the movie from being biggest blockbuster in tamil cinema as we had our expectations right.

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  26. correct aa sonnenga. selvaragavan ravusu vikatanlaa thaanga mudeeyala. pudhusaa ennatha andha padathula kaamekamudeeyum. rowdy, pros + wife, climaxlaa nalavanaa maaruvan.karumam daa. ethaana padathulaaa daa kaameepeenga.

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  27. //Aramichittangala.. Pudhupettai and City of God! Adichivittutaangala…. :O
    Niruthanum.. ellathayum niruthanum. LG.. idhu ellam neenga kekkaradhu illaya???//

    I laughed loud reading the above comment by aNti. Good one..

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  29. Cmon LG.
    I guess people have to have limits when talking about hype. To me, Maniratnam and Co. are more like Tommy Hilfiger and Gucci. It’s more of brand-selling than real quality. Make no mistake that Mani is a good movie maker, but that does not mean that one has to subscribe to anything that he dishes out to the masses. If Mani dims the lights and the actors mutter intangible lines then it’s a classic, but if Selvaraghavan tries to hype up his movie, then its blasphemy. Point out to me a single soul who does not market himself, be it with his psuedo-american accent or the car he drives to the shirt he wears. Movies are a forum of expression and the more we accept newer ideas and forms of marketing, we will not be frogs in the well waiting for a Manirathnam, AR Rahman or a Tendulkar to deliver.

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