Thiruppavai in Sivaji

A 1300 yr old song composed by Saint Andal praising the Thamizh God Thirumaal (believed to be an incarnation of Lord Krishna) finds it's way into my aural arena and many other men/women/children of today, thanks to the soundtrack of 'Sivaji'. "Thiruppavai" is a collection of 30 verses in praise of Thirumaal sung primarily in the month of Maargazhi which falls in the latter half of December and early half of January according to the Gregorian calendar. It is also said that each of the 30 days in the month of Maargazhi is named after these 30 verses.

Now back to 'Sivaji', the reason I'm talking about these verses. The way the lyrics blends with such sublime music in 'Sivaji' is a moment of musical brilliance. All flamboyance and style is reserved for the hero in all other songs but what beauty, almost spiritual divinity, in this song that one can keep hearing it forever. I tried my hand at deciphering the words in this verse and then got it translated through one of my friends Mr.Shanmugham (70 yrs young and keeps pushing me to complete 'Ponniyin Selvan').

Maali! Manivanna!

Maargazhineer aaduvaan

Maylaiyar seivanagal venduvana kaettiyal

Njalathai yellam

Nadungamularvana

Paalvanna vanaththul paanjajaniyamay

Polvana sangangal poipaadudaiyanavay

Saiyarperum paraiyay pallaan thisaipaaray

Kola vilakil kodiyae vidhanamay

Aalin Ilaiyaay

Arulaylo rempavaai

Oh Lord! (The original is a reference akin to Black Diamond)

Give us the strength

To complete this penance in Maargazhi like you did to our elders

Give us oil lamps, flags, powerful big drums,

singers who sing praises and conches that sound;

like your pure multi hued voice -

the sound which makes the universe shudder

Oh Lord, bless us,

Let us do our penance

I tried to stay away from transliteration and would be glad to correct any mistakes in the interpretation of the verse. The verses are powerful, the music adds to it's grandiosity. Simple and minimal orchestration, Rahman knows when to sink us in the power of the divine aural spectrum. Splendid song, another of the treasures of Thamizh literature polished and embellished by Rahman.

Geo's Talkies - Anbe Sivam

’Anbe Sivam’, as interesting as the title sounds is a movie who’s essence is captured in it’s title, Love is God.

The story begins in an airport in Orissa where both Nalla, a disfigured, not good looking communist leader and Aras, a smart, suave and globalised yuppie are waiting for a flight which eventually get’s cancelled due to storm. They are forced to share a hotel room where all shades of both characters are aptly portrayed on screen. Aras desperately wants to get back home because he’s going to get married in four days. Nalla realistically takes Aras through the world that they are in which is just too dangerous and dirty for a yuppie like Aras who cannot understand why his mobile won’t work or his credit card is not accepted. Interspersed among all the opening scenes are liberal doses of humour, slapstick at it’s hilarious best or should I say worst.

The story gains momentum with the storm intensifying in Orissa and Nalla and Aras take up the journey together to Chennai by rail and road. Here we are exposed to Nalla’s life, the Nalla that was. The audience is transported to the world of trade unionism, Nalla’s street plays, his friends, his romance with the mill owners daughter and his idealogies, which are very marxist. Somewhere down the line, things don’t work out as they have to, Nalla gets disfigured in an accident, he loses his love and somehow escapes death by an inch. It’s this Nalla that starts to realise the divine power. Coming back to reality, Nalla and Aras become witness to a train accident and Aras comes back to the real world after bearing witness to gore and bloodshed. In the end he marries his girl and life moves on, watch out what really happens in the movie.

The main focus of this movie largely revolves around globalisation, faith, ideologies and love for the human being. Kamal Hassan as Nalla does what he does best, act, and believe me when you see the disfigured Nalla it’ll send shivers down your spine, he’s put his heart and soul into the role. Madhavan as Aras does a good job, no one else could have shared frame with Kamal and not ended up looking like a joker. Nasser as the hypocritical believer in God, who swears by God’s name in revenge does a splendid job. Art direction by Prabhakar is one of the strongest points of the movie, be it the flooded railway station and roads in Orissa, the mill protests in Coimbatore, the train accident in Andra, all have been re-created excellently. Vidyasagar’s music is a mix of Classical Symphonies and Vidyasagar’s own background score and five songs of which the title song and the street play song stand out.

Cinematography by Arthur Wilson is good though he didn’t have great sceneries to picturise, he’s done justice to every frame. Kamal Hassan has done the story and screenplay, one should commend him for the story but the screenplay is fudged, he must have got lost in a whirlpool of ideas and couldn’t decide on which to highlight. Sundar C is the director of this movie, this is clear in the comedy scenes that make up one half of the movie, but the later half looks like it was ghost-directed by Kamal himself. It’s just too unlike Sundar's earlier works and that’s what makes me suspicious. Lyrics are top class, by Vairamuthu. Here’s a sample from the title song:

Yaar yaar sivam, nee naan sivam(Who is God? Me and you, we are God)

Vazhvay thavam, anbe sivam (Life is a penence, Love is God)

Aathiham pesum adiyalkellam sivamay anbaagum(For the believer God is love)

Naathikam pesum nallavarkellam anbay sivamaagum(For the non believer love is God)

Idhayam enbadhu sathithaan enral erithazhal thinruvidum(If the heart is only flesh, it’ll be burnt by fire)

Anbin karuvi idhayam enral saavai venruvidum(If love originates from the heart, it’ll win over death)

Anbin paadhai serthavannukku mudivay illaiada(There’s no end for the person who takes the path of love)

Manathin neelam ethuvo athuvay vaazhivin neelamada(Life is as long as your mind)

# Plz bear with my crass translation(trans-literation), I know just enough Tamil to understand what it means.

’Anbe Sivam’, definitely watchable for the contrasting views it projects and the non-judgemental stance taken, but every frame has Kamal Hassan and that’s what is a not so positive point.

[This review was originally written and posted on mouthshut.com on the 27th of Jan 2003]

Geo's Talkies - Ocean's 12

After putting up the review of Ocean's 13 I thought putting up the Ocean's 12 review done earlier in Moutshut would be appropriate. So here's the review written on the 7th of Feb 2005.

Anybody who understands the dynamics of film making would agree that more difficult than making a successful movie is making a sequel. Steven Soderberg’s version of Rat pack eleven titled ’Oceans’ Eleven’ not only made millions at the box office but prompted the director to work on a sequel to it, aptly titled ’Oceans’ Twelve’.

Story

George Clooney as Danny Ocean and Julia Roberts as Tess are spending their ’second third anniversary’ in Europe. They get rattled by the presence of Benedict (Andy Garcia) demanding the return of the $160 million with interest they siphoned his casino in the previous movie. Benedict manages to globe trot and meet all members of the Oceans’ Eleven team to make sure the message is driven loud and clear. Brad Pitt as Rusty is recuperating from a failed romance with Isabel Lahiri played by the svelte Catherine Zeta Jones. Isabel works for the police force and is all determined to nail theives and the reason for this is something from her past.

Ocean, Rusty and the whole team decide to hit something in Europe to pay off their bucks to Benedict since hitting any place in the US would be walking into a death trap. The one question they have to find an answer to is to identify potential places that could help them make up this gigantic sum in a time span of one week. The added thrill to these situations is that Benedict had been alerted by Night Fox played by the dashing Vincent Cassel whose only motive here is to be proved as the best thief the world has ever seen. Linus Caldwell played by Matt Damon wants to play a much larger role this time around and it is hilarious to watch him on screen.

The story moves a bit slowly across Europe until the big deal is set despite some initial failures. This movie is full of surprises despite the presence of visual clues all over. Julia Roberts excels in comedy in a scene where she plays ’herself’ opposite Bruce Willis. Mind you, you need to listen to each word that is spoke to savor the humor and I am sure one would chuckle for the full length of the movie. After getting beaten to the first heist, Oceans team take up a challenge by Night Fox to steal a faberge egg. Do Ocean and his team make it through this challenge? Is Night Fox the better of the two? Is the premise set for yet another sequel, a la Oceans Thirteen?

Crew

Script by George Nolfi is the weakest part of this movie with things having kept at a slow pace in the beginning, but hey it’s never easy to write a decent continuation to a hugely successful heist movie. David Holmes’ music is there for one simple reason, functionality. You can hear Hip - Hop, Rock and the traditional hollywood piano - string combo in shades, but the movie is all about a different contemporary(not techno) sound aptly used in one flash back scene ance the end titles. This film was canned and directed by Steven Soderberg and he’s done a neat job, he never expected any critics to rave about this move I guess. But he will definitely smile his way to the box office since the audience would enjoy this movie.

Epilogue

This is a fun-movie, all the actors are wonderful on screen and exude a terrible sense of lethargy and chemistry that they don’t appear to be acting. The camera simply happens to be a voyeur in the lives of these people exposing their daily sides to us. It is a daunting task to shoot with big names in a movie that just about 2 hrs long. But all characters have enough screen time to warrant their names in the credits. George Clooney swims through the role with his calm demeanour and his on screen ramblings with . Brad Pitt does what he does best, charms his way into Jones’ heart. Andy Garcia has been wasted with having nothing to do expect walk into people’s lives.

Though cinema is a form of art, at times one simply needs to throw logic and stop looking for the tangible to enjoy a movie. Forget reading all this, simply rent this DVD/VCD or catch it in a theater. You won’t have to regret this experience if pure entertainment is what you are looking for despite that the fact that Oceans Eleven is a better movie. The end shows that there is indeed a possibility for Oceans Thirteen.

The new reliance tv ad

I'm absolutely in love with the new Reliance Mobile ad that is doing the rounds on TV. It's got simple lyrics and the rhythm of the song get's added with one more layer every 2 bars to end in a fitting finale, all this inside 1 minute which is what makes the whole ad, music and the concept spectacular. Is there a better way of conveying the fact that the color phones added color to lives. A big round of applause to the folks at Corcoise Films for the concept and execution and Dhruv Ghanekar & Ashutosh Pathak for the music.

baathon mein rang aayae hai jabsay
barsein barsein barsein rang barse

bheegi bheegi pathiyan barsay
rangwali pathiyan barsay

barsein barsein rang barse
barsein barsein rang barse

Geo's Talkies - Ocean's 13

"Ocean's 13" is a welcome third installment to the Ocean's series of movies produced by Jerry Weintrub and Steven Soderberg. As with all the Ocean's movies there's a lot of hilarious one liners in this one too. Reuben Tishkoff (Elliot Gould) get's kicked out of a lucrative hotel-casino project by his partner Willy Banks (Al Pacino) which gives Reuben a heart attack and confinement to bed. The rest 10 member regroup and pledge to take revenge in their typical style.

They conspire to hit Willy's hotel on it's opening night and turn the tables back on him and how? Rigged slot machines, dices, blackjacks. A plot is also hatched up to make the visit of the reviewer from Five Diamonds (like 5 stars) hell - chemical infested rooms, sick food and rude service. Add to this already mixed plot Terry Benedict and you know where we are heading. A small part by the Night Fox himself adds to the curiosity. The end is a foregone conclusion for all of us who are familiar with the series but how do that conjure it up is certainly a treat to watch.

I'd like to mention Ram here because he in a way piqued my interest onto the second movie and we saw it in Carnatic theaters without being able to understand a word of the dialog because of the crappy way the sound stage was setup there. I'm sure like Ram there would be many of you who'd take an instant liking to the third installment. One should have watched Ocean's 11 to completely enjoy this movie although it's not necessary to have seen Ocean's 12.

These guys have managed to take a jibe at Oprah Winfrey show and have exhibited the sensitive side of men in a satirical manner. George Clooney takes jibe at Brad Pitt in the end of the movie about settling down and having children, the resemblance to real life is so thin here. The only reason for Al Pacino to be in this movie is either because he was paid well or is a friend of the producers, his character simply exists for the Ocean's team to punch into. Steven Soderberg makes an appearance in the movie as Gecko, the genius behind the Casino's security systems.

And if you've not realized till now the women are absent in this edition. Ellen Barkins in the addition but she's got nothing much do than strut her stuff around the screen and get cozy with Matt in the end. I'll try and post some hilarious lines when I get to lay my hands on the DVD.

Geo's Talkies - Sivaji the boss

"Sivaji the boss" is Shankar's first directorial venture with the one and only Super star in India, Rajinikanth. It's tough to make a movie with Rajinikanth, there's a certain expectation from the audience and double guessing that is a herculaean task. Mani Ratnam would have spent a lot of time scripting "Thalapathy" because he had to keep Rajini's screen image in mind and also give Mammooty equal screen prominence, that was a good effort. Shankar plays to the gallery with Sivaji, there's everything the masses need. And there is Rajinikanth who remains the numero uno in the movie. For a change we are spared of the sister and mother sentiment which I welcome wholeheartedly.

I don't want to spell the story here, it's a typical Shankar socio-commercial story. An NRI comes back to India and wants to reform the system, he hits road blocks. How does he overcome all of them to make his mark? That's the story. You have oodles of humor, the one's with Shreya's parents are extremely silly to say the least. Vivek plays the hero most of the times stealing punch lines which Rajini should be delivering, the change is good. Thankfully Vivek's character has not been reduced to a caricature. That's one good thing about comedians acting with Rajini, they are not belittled. Shreya has just a little more to do than looking pretty in the songs dressed in the most skimpiest of dresses. There's lots of curves on display here, they say it's for the masses, it's also for the classes. Rajini dons umpteen looks in this movie which themselves make the movie repeat watch worthy, each look is unique and would sound outrageous on paper, but Rajini/Shankar have carried it off with elan and style.

AR Rahman plays another vital role with a superb soundtrack which is new and well recorded. The background score has obviously been done with a lot of time and attention paid to it. I loved the choral Sivaji title chant, if they brought it out on CD's it would be a nice disc to own. Thotta Tharani's sets are huge, they are magnificient but to me they all looked misplaced. Thotta Tharani is a master in his craft but maybe it's just me who is not able to see reason for those opulent sets. KV Anand's camera does a good job at capturing the images. This movie stars all Shankar regulars - Raghuvaran (cast against type, who could imagine the Anthony in Basha becoming one of his trusted men?), Cochin Haneefa (cliched bad guy), Manivannan (Father).

Vadivukkarasi (cast against type as the Mother, the granny role in Arunachalam lingers fresh in our memory), Solomon Pappaiyya, Raja, SunTVnews reader (can't recollect her name) and Suman who takes the villains character complete the cast. Nayanthara skips her way into the opening song in skimpy costumes showing ample cleavage, this actress has lost oodles of weight. This is a Rajinikanth movie, no looking above, below or beyond that. Suspension of disbelief is not an option, one has to keep one's logic at home and simply get immersed in the magic, that's what a Rajini movie is all about. "Sivaji" without any doubt could turn into the biggest blockbuster in recent times.

Trivia

# Watch out for Shankhar, KV Anand and Thotta Tharani on screen in the middle of "Ballaelakka"

# Mimicry by Mayilsamy, Chinni Jayanth and Damu in the end is short and hilarious.

# Rajini using the guitar as a gun a la Desperado style in the "Athiradi" song.

# Mercedes Benz stretch limo bearing a Pollachi registration number plate.

# Rajini's SUV's registration number totalling 8 (TN-09 AZ 98), surely this vehicle belongs to Shankar given his penchant for the number 8.

# Binny mills compound used in one of the action sequences where the villain comes with money, will filmmakers finally stop using this place. 3 out of the four movies I saw last are shot here.

Sivaji the boss

Every single news channel last night was fixed on Rajinikanth and the magic he creates on screen. I'm slated to watch 'Sivaji' in 'Central Theaters' at 1400 hrs today. After this screening I intend to catch the evening show in 'Shanthi Theaters' with my office folks. Quite a prospect this is, watch out for the review of this movie in the next 12-16 hrs.