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July 6, 2004

Kanaa Kaanum Kaalangal – 7G Rainbow Colony

Ithu Idaivelli Kuraikindra Tharunam
Iru Idhayathil Melliya Salanam
Ini Iravugal Innoru Naragam
Ilamayin Athisayam !!

Ithu Kathiyil Nadanthidum Paruvam
Dhinam Kanavinil Avaravar Uruvam
Sudum Neruppinai Viralgalum Virumbum
Kadavulin Raghasiyam !!

I am drowned in this song now. Very Feverish, Very Classy. Harish Raghavendra and Madumitha at their best. Ustad Sultan Khan just mesmerizes with his alto pitch. And three cheers to lyricist Na.Muthukumar.

Yuvan Shankar Raja strikes again. Listen to Kanaa Kaanum Kaalangal from 7G Rainbow Colony. A quick review later.
July 4, 2004

Goodbye Godfather

[Pic : Time]

Very coincidental that there are two goodbye blog notes this week. This one is very close to film lovers.

Morgan Freeman still remains my favorite Hollywood actor. But Brando is also one in my small list of personal favorites. I haven’t got a chance to see all those 50’s movies, which they say, is Brando’s best. I understood that he is a great guy when our own acting university, Sivaji Ganesan called Marlon Brando as an actor’s actor. That’s all I needed to get an opinion on Brando. With that same opinion in me I watched Godfather and that opinion became more and never less. Having enjoyed his acting, which I hate to call as method acting and restrict it to that school of acting. We have/had parallels of Marlon Brando in India too. Still he has inspired our Indian actors with his unparalleled performances in The Godfather trilogy.

If you were to ask Tamils who were teenagers during 80’s about their most favorite film, they would have uniformly replied Mouna Ragam. If you ask the same to the 70’s teenagers all over the world who knew Hollywood, The Godfather would eventually be their reply. My Brando favorite till day is his flamboyant performance in The Last Tango in Paris. This movie could be overlooked as a yet-another French erotica, if you watch it for the first time. But there is more to that. As I watched a couple of times more, I saw that clandestine and the versatile genius in Brando. This was exactly when the Brando bug bit me.

The closest that I have come to Brando is that I had been to the village in Illinois called Libertyville, where he grew up. Libertyville is en-route to Wisconsin. It is a small village/town, which is very English-like, and a scenic place. People there still mention and are proud to have the greatest actor of time, grow up there.

So even as the actor’s actor is dead, we hope, that his performances would continue to inspire the millions of actors who are still about to be born. Goodbye Godfather.

Update 5th July, 2004 :
I am the son of Brando – Kamalhassan

In Brando’s films, he dared take up subjects which very few actors have done. He was a role model not only for American actors but international actors too. Read more here.
July 2, 2004

Ini Bhayam Illai – A shortfilm review

While Prasanna wrote the huge applauding comment for the Virumandi review, I didn’t know he was as passionate as he is about movies. He had mentioned in a comment that he and friends had tried their hand on a short film and he would like to send a copy to me. So we fixed up and met at Prasanna’s place to watch his short film Ini Bhayam Illai.

Ini Bhayam Illai runs for just 16 minutes. It has a very simple theme. The short screenplay however has added a lot of value to this rather interesting piece of work. All the 15+ minutes I was glued to the screen to see what would happen next. IBI talks about the guilt of two people who are unconnected. One’s guilt was due to a simple act committed. And the other for a guilt uncomitted. So the shots move back and forth among these two people and finally gives an philosophical ending to the theme.The theme has been well thought about, very well re-created on screen.

Prasanna who has written, directed and starred the film has done a good job. He and Jithin are the protagonists and he has carried the role of a student who commits a simple act which leads to a guilt that is unsurmountable. The other suprise package comes from Rajesh, who has done a supporting role, amazingly well.

As Prasanna said that the whole movie was shot with a HandyCam in MinDV format, I was suprised for the quality of movie which was so good. With 10 hours of editing in a professional editing studio, this shortfilm really deserved one for the movie itself has more scene cuts than the number of actors in it. That clearly elevates the movie to higher standards. I have to appreciate prasanna for the ‘telling-without-telling’ idea in the screenplay.

With people taking such good shortfilms with just a handycam, films are no more the toys of a rich producer. And as more and more such shortfilms are being shot, more and more reality creeps in. What a welcoming move that is.

P.S: Prasanna would be happy to screen you the movie. you can reach him at his email, rsprasanna[at]hotmail[dot]com. He also acted in the play Death by Vaanam Vasappadum fame Karthikkumar’s Evam group. This play was a recent hit in chennai and it is inspired by Woody Allen’s movie by the same name(?). Here is the piece of introductory text by Prasanna about the shortfilm.

Two men. Each burdened by guilt.

One, for an act committed. The other for an act not committed.

The Beach. The sound of the waves. Only their fears holding them back

Will they confront their fears? Ini Bhayam Illai.
July 1, 2004

Goodbye, blue skies?

Guest Blog #20 – Anand C

It is no doubt a historic moment when the first successful private space flight was launched in Mojave. The achievement ranks up there in grit with Chuck Yeager and the breaking of the sound barrier. It is legalizing every pipe dream ranging from relocation to tourist resorts, that have been the stuff of science fiction.

And yet, it seems like Pink Floyd‘s words from long back (Goodbye, Blue Sky) are resonating now more than ever:

Did you ever wonder why we had to run for shelter,
When the promise of a brave new world,
Unfurled beneath a clear blue sky?
Goodbye, blue sky.
Goodbye.
June 28, 2004

Parthiban’s Kudaikul Mazhai – Taking a Guess

[Pic : The Hindu] Just like Parthiban’s quest for difference I have changed the image to B/W. However, the movie will be colorful.

His trailer says it all. And those who have seen it appreciate it so well. What more you want to generate hype for a good opening of a movie. So Parthiban’s latest film Kudaikkul Mazhai can be assured of full house for the first two weeks. For someone who tries to be consistently different, tamil cinedom should be grateful atleast in these ways.

As the trailer begins to run, we see a montage of a elite hollywood flick with some bombs blasting, some helicopters flying across and a couple of white couples making love. All these are shown just like a trailer and the camera pans to the silhouette of Parthiban who claims that his movie Kudaikkul Mazhai doesn’t carry any of those spine chilling shots. He goes on to explain his passion for movies and explains that this movie was shot over a span of 2 years for which he had declined 18 and a half offers. The half offer being a cameo role. He assures Kudaikkul Mazhai will be a splendid experience, a commercial poetic venture.

This is a slightly lengthy trailer but a different effort. Now, in the promos, he says, people come with a notion to watch movies. Their pre-concieved notion blocks them from being open. So he refuses to introduce the other characters in the movie. The movie premise is about a girl falling in love with Auto driver and the aftermath.

Something stuck me about Parthiban’s consistent efforts to be different. So when he refuses to introduce other characters, what could be the difference. My sixth sense says there is no one in the movie except for him and the heroine. He is capable of having a movie with just two characters. Now, this isn’t from any kollywood gossip that I got to hear. It is just my guess. So if this becomes true, I believe it might, Partiban should design a platinum ring for my index finger. Right.

Kanaa Kaanum Kaalangal – 7G Rainbow Colony

Goodbye Godfather

Ini Bhayam Illai – A shortfilm review

Goodbye, blue skies?

Parthiban’s Kudaikul Mazhai – Taking a Guess