[Pic – bizhat.com]
No yaps, no cribs. Just a birthday wish to this gentleman on his 50th birthday. Am saving many more such wishes for the coming future that will reiterate Kamal Hassan‘s name in the History of Indian Cinema.
Happy Birthday Mr – Krishnaswamy, Nalla Sivam, Chappani, Guna, Velu Naicker, Senapathy, Abay Kumar, Saketh Ram, Shakti Velu, Kameswaran, Virumandi, Appu, Udhayamoorthy, Satyamoorthy and the list goes on.
[Pic: rajinifans.com]
On a dull morning like today, with no evidence of the shining sun and the newspapers underlining the oil price rise, I desperately needed a break. Television. What else.
It was Rajini in Arunachalam dancing and singing Athaandaa Ithaanda Arunachalam Naanthaanda in KTV. While we know that Rajini takes special care for the introduction song, this one is a very special one. Many Rajini fans like the intro numbers from Annamalai and Baasha. This Arunachalam song went a little unnoticied because the movie itself wasn’t a rocking hit. Those tight close-ups of Rajini, I should say made him look younger. Thanks to the nice wig. On watching it, I was prompted to write this note.
Over the years Rajini has evolved, like everyone else. For him the growth has been exponential in terms of films, fame and fans. If only he does a qualitative analysis, he may not be accepting his growth. It was indeed not his fault. Blame it on his producers, the directors and finally his fans who were content with Rajini as a typical kollywood hero. In the process of manufacturing such commercial masalas, the actor inside Rajini has exited. Rajini was much better an actor than one could think of.
The early 1980’s were the golden era of Rajini as an actor. Thanks to Mahendran for the fantastical Mullum Malarum[1978] and Johnny[1980]. If Balachander got out the actor in Rajini with Moondru Mudhichu and Thillu Mullu, Mahendran shaped the diamond. Though, Kaali of Mullum Malarum has been widely accepted as one of Rajini’s best, my favorite has been Johnny throughout. During its release, Johnny was widely advertised as an action movie due to various compulsions. Mahendran known for his visual style of telling a story had two amazing roles for Rajini in Johnny. Both of which, Rajini hadn’t even attempted before. Johnny had the best of everything from music to photography to romance. Even today it is regarded as the best of Illayaraja‘s movies.
Since then, we have had him play a playboy in Netrikan, a classy cop named Alex Pandian in Moondru Mugam, the nicest father in Nallavanukku Nallavan, a sentimental brother in Padikaathavan, an angry young man in Bashaa and so on. The actor in him was slowly getting disappeared.
Those school/college days when I used to be a frantic Rajini fan, I missed out to identify the versatility in him. I’ve grown over the years, understanding the language and the medium of cinema. Today when I applaud at some of the best actors of cinema, I feel the Rajini factor could have been a great force. We all have a collective responsibility in edging out the actor in Rajinikanth. To cry over spilled milk would be a inappropriate. Heck!! Not much can be done now. I hate to finish this on a negative note. But to be true, the films that follow will have the IMAGE of Rajini. The other face of actor, just like the pic above, will go unnoticed. The actor will be spotted no more until someone challenges the so-called-formula. The only solace is that, he still acts.
Just like it’s predecessor, the Indian version of American Idol, obviously called as Indian Idol should be gripping. Having witnessed first season of American Idol closely in the US, I would have preferred to change the format a lil bit to suit the viewers of the peninsula. This one looks like Munnabhai MBBS dubbed into all 4 languages. There aren’t many changes to the format and presentation.
The Indian Idol is being broadcasted from 9 pm every evening in the Sony TV. Chennai viewers without CAS are the ones who are fortunate/unfortunate enough to not view it. They are still on the prelims so live auditions haven’t started yet and I am not sure if they are bringing in the vote-over-phone feature in this version.
The judges. Sonu Nigam, Anu Malik and Farah Khan. We know that Sonu Nigam has a mesmerizing voice, his new found hair style makes him look like Zhakir Hussain. He takes on the Randy Jackson image of American Idol. Our famous(!) Anu Malik takes on the bad boy Simon Cowell‘s image. Anu Malik sticks his neck out in rejections. In acceptances, it’s Sonu. I am able to mark this pattern clearly.
The disaster, per me, comes as Farah Khan. She plays the similar role of Paula Abdul. While I love Farah as a choerographer and even as a director, she may not fit in here. They could have went with the likes of Sadana Sargam or Alka Yagnik. I did watch Farah’s Main Hoon Na and was impressed by the commercial movie she was able to put together. Again, Main Hoon Na was a collage of Matrix and other stunt stuff but was fairly commendable by a debutant director. Here in Indian Idol, she’s not even being authoritative as Paula. She is just nodding heads to the opinions of Sonu Nigam and Anu Malik. Probably a bit xenophobic among the musicians.
With all such trivial issues, Indian Idol seems to have got the frenzy of the audience. I know people who watch even the repeat telecasts of the same show. In a country with so much population, I am sure there is tough competition ahead. Good Luck to those dudes!!.
From Toy Story to Finding Nemo it was a journey through the wonder world of animation.
Now, it’s just two days left for The Incredibles to rock. The guys at Pixar are making it happen again. I’m looking forward to it, very anxiously.
[Pic – chennaionline.com]
I was expecting this article quite sometime back on Hindu about the Cinderella Pattu Paavaadai[silk skirt] of RMKV Silks which is THE sensation of this year’s deepavali.
Cinderella Pattu Pavadai has Cinderella’s fairy tale story twined in silk on the borders of the skirt. The latest ad with the young girl in a green Cinderella pattu pavadai is a big hit, already. Ramya had a post on this sometime back.
Young school girls are said to be crashing the gates of RMKV to have a look at the pattu pavadai. Priced around 1500-3000 bucks the orders are overwhelming and if you are planning to get one for your kid this deepavali, you might not. My colleague who wanted to get her daughter this fairytale silk skirt, found the current delivery date might be aroud 20th November. Book your orders for Pongal, now.
Did someone say fashion gets recycled ?. We are getting back to where we were before. This one is a good comeback.
kirukkal.com 