[Surya as Michael Vasant]
This year wasn’t a year of performances. We didn’t have an array of classic acts that were tough to choose from. With the little lot that kollywood saw this year it wasn’t like a photo-finish.
This year’s little group of acts included Kamal as the naive Virumandi, Surya as Perzhagan ‘hunch back’ Chinna, Surya as the intellectual Michael Vasanth and Parthiban as a Schizophrenic in Kudaikkul Mazhai.
If you think playing Chris Mom/ Chris Child is childish. No way. We played it on a 50 member team and it proved to be lots of fun and the best of team building exercises. Rocks.
2004 Year-End Google Zeitgeist , the time-spirit of globe, has been released. Guess what – Britney, Christina Aguilera and Pamela ‘Bay Watch’ Anderson are topping the popular searches. There is just two male dudes in the top 10 popular seaches. Orlando ‘Troy’ Bloom and Harry Potter. Eminem did made it to the top 2 of Popular Men 2004. One a personal note I am excited that Kurt Cobain and Bob Marley are still in the Top 10 Male Celebrities. Ironically, on a year when music companies came together against music piracy, mp3 is one of the top 10 popular searches.
GMAIL is close to be released public in Jan 2005, I guess. Starting yesterday, GMAIL is giving out 10 more invitations to the subscribers. I know no one needs them anymore. Just in case, leave a comment.
I have blogged about accidents and traffic in Chennai before, this is one more of that category.
Couple of days back, in a suburb of Chennai, while me and my friend were driving back on a two-wheeler, there was crowd in the middle of the road. A man’s body lying there. We searched for the head. No head.
Next day in my office this was the talk-of-the-day. Looks like he was run over by a watertank lorry. We know that watertank lorries are the mobile God-Of-Dead in Chennai. But this one was truly heart crunching. Imagine that doomed man’s thoughts just when he was alive under the wheels of that lorry. One moment and all his hopes, dreams, family and career boomed out.
No Preaching. A suggestion, Drive Slow.
Knock, Knock, Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door. Not the Bob Dylan stuff but today is Vaikunda Ekaathisi.
Looks like Master Martin Scorsese and Di Caprio combo is going to work again. The Aviator rocks this year’s Golden Globe nominations. Releasing for Christmas in the US and no sign of the movie release in Chennai.
It’s a joke that you can’t watch three continuous songs in Ktv. One of them will be a bad one. Suprisingly it wasn’t today. Starting with Sivakumar and Nathiya singing Kanna Unnai Thedukiren in the Kodaikaanal cold, it went on Kamal Sridevi singing Perai Sollavaa from Guru. Finally it was Rajini and Deepa with a voice-over of Senorita !! I love you from Johnny. All three were SPB goodies, picturised at hillstations and also my fave ones. The joke was broken.
This is usually awarded finally. Let’s get this upfront and go back down the Best-Of-Kollywood-2004 list.
Among the numerous good and bad movies that kollywood saw this year, Virumandi takes the cake. Be it for Kamal Hassan‘s directorial skill or sheer touch of class in screenplay which was a tightrope walk or simply the cast of Virumandi which supported the screenplay, Virumandi walks away with the Best Movie of the Year tag. Few things that I probably felt were the best in Virumandi were, Picturisation of the whole movie inside sets which didn’t seemed like one, Abirami’s fantastical sketch of Annalakshmi, Pasupathy as Kothala Thevar and the Shanmugam as Peykkaaman.
Here are a few lines that I blogged just after watching Virumandi –
Virumandi is a just an observation of modern day, cell phone cultured rural folks of Tamil Nadu. There is however a message implied in this observation which is made without passing judgments on their life style, their sentiments and their everyday outcries.
Few other movies that I thought were worthy contenders are Mani Ratnam‘s Aayitha Ezhuthu, Cheran’s Autograph and Selvaraghavan’s 7G Rainbow Colony.
Aayitha Ezhuthu missed out in characterisation of Inba Sekhar though it had superb screenplay, dialogues and cinematography. Autograph had amateruish acting though Cheran had a novel approach in story-telling. Selvaraghavan came near close to Virumandi but didn’t match it in the technical forte and background score.
The Best Of Kollywood 2004 follows. Do leave your suggestions/comments.
Tamil Moves that released during 2004 –
7G Rainbow colony, Aayitha Ezhuthu, Adithadi, Alagesan, Alagiya Theeye, Amma Appa Chellam, Anbu Sagotharan, Arasatchy, Arul, Arumugasami, Athu, Attakasam, Autograph, Bose, Campus, Chatrapathy, Chellamey, Dreams, Eathiri, Enavo pidichiruku, Engal anna, Gajendra, Gambeeram, Gilli, Giri, Image, Jai, Jana, Jeyram, Jore, Kalam, Kalumulla kalamvarai, Kamaraj, Kanavu meipada vendum, Kangalal kaithu sei, Kathal, Kathal dot com, Kathaley jeyam, Kavithai, kovil, Kudaikul mazhai, Kumaran s/o mahalakshmi, Kuthu, Loves, Mahanadigan, Manasthan, Manmathan, Matchi, Mathumathi, Mathura, Nee matum, Neranja manasu, New, Oru murai solividu, Peralagan, Pethi sollai thattathey, Puthukotailirundu saravanan, Saga, Sema ragalai, Setai, Shock, Singara chennai, Sulaan, Thendral, Udaya, Ullathai nee killathaey, Uyirosai, Vanam vasapadum, Varnajalam, Vasool raja, Vayasupasanga, Virumandi, Viswa thulasi
Thanks to Namma Nanganallur Vasant for the list of movies. I am not sure if this is a exhaustive list. Suggest if there are any movies to be included.
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