I have been seriously pampered as a viewer I must say.
For the last few times, whatever movie I have seen latest or slightly old… I literally had lots of awe-inspiring moments.
A very rare thing these days.
And I am beginning to get convinced that Tamil cinema is finally opening its wings and scaling new heights and frontiers in film making.
Maybe it’s too much to think right now…
But then guess what happens when?.
- There is a new director
- All the actors are new (Atleast the main protagonists)
- Same old story told in a very different manner
- Low budget, but no compromise on any front, creatively speaking
- Big directors (Shankar, Sasikumar etc) promoting new talents/ concepts
- Independent film makers risking their everything to make great movies
But look at the kind of films below and decide it for your self. These films are barely a year old and have manage to hold themselves against big budget movies which is an amazing feat.
Naan Kadavul (2009)
I will always remain a Bala fan. Right from his first film Sethu, he proved that he has the ability to capture audiences attention from the word go!
Naan Kadavul is one such movie which will stay with you forever. And viewing a movie like this requires great courage.
I mean this is one movie which is an absolutely no-nonsense film, extremely dark and depicts only the harsh realities without any sugar coating. And imagine turning out amazing performances from two wooden actors such as Aarya and Pooja.!
The Arya-starrer tells the story of a person who is driven away from home by his own father. The boy, who lands up in the sacred town of Kashi, becomes a member of the group of sanyasis who practise eating human corspses that float on the Ganga. It’s then that his father comes seeking him, venturing to take him back home. What all happens then forms the crux of the plot. Arya does the key role, while Pooja plays the other lead.
Trivia: It took director Bala approx 5-6 years to make this classic. Arya was out of job (literally on other projects) for 5 years. He actually had to grow his beard and hair to don the role. It was also noted that there is a scene where Arya does a Shirsasan which is bascially the last position in yoga and only the most experienced can perform it. It took Arya approximately 25 days to get that right with no prior yoga training whatsoever. Now that’s called a passion for cinema both by the director and the actor. Arya literally lived the character during the shooting periods to the extent that many local residents took him to be an actual aghori baba. Pooja was selected much later after the earlier heroines dropped out of the film due to long shooting hours and rigorous make-up schedules. It’s a career-defining role for both Pooja and Arya. All the other characters of this film were slected on location.
Director: Bala
Cast: Arya, pooja
Angadi Theru (2009)
This movie was one roller-coaster ride. The situations, plot, characters, dialogues are so real that you feel you are part of the film. I watched this film only for the director whose earlier film was was ‘Veyyil’ another great film produced by director Shankar.
The story is about Poverty that brings Jothilingam and Marimuthu along with several other boys, from their village in Tirunelveli, to work at one of the textile shops in Chennai. Naive and guileless, they know little about the fate that awaits them. They are a large group of battered youth treated like animals and made to slog from the wee hours of the morning till late into the night, only to lie down huddled in a cramped room with a guard to keep an eye on them till dawn. Often beaten up and bruised by the slave driver of a manager, redemption of nowhere in sight for them
Trivia: Director Vasanthabalan cast Mahesh who’s father is a small time hawker in the interiors of Tamil nadu. The director signed Mahesh spot on when he saw him with his father. Talk about lucky stars! Anjali on the other hand was busy shooting for a film. The director saw her and was so convinced with her that he waited one full year for her to complete her assignments.
Watch the film and you’ll know that it was worth the wait for both the director and the actress.
Director: Vasanthabalan
Cast: Anjali, Mahesh
Pasanga (2009)
This will easily be one of my all time favourite movies.
A movie that I would love to watch with my kids.
What happens when you project kids as the main protagonists where you have a hero, his best friend, a heroine, a villain… but all are kids. This is what pasanga all about. There is no newness in terms of its story but the execution, dialogues will leave you breathless. Pasanga is one film which has all the elements that one would expect in a cinema. Entertainment at its best and with lots of positive messages. The kids in the movie are just too adorable. Kudos to the director in bringing out their best performances. Another worthy mention is the producer Sasikumar who has not only directed an amazing film like Subramaniyapuram but he consciously produces and promotes quality cinema like Pasanga and Nadodigal.
Pasanga Movie is all about children. The story revolves around a 10-year old boy whose ambition changes the objective of the school in which he studies.
Director: Pandiraj
Cast: Vimal, Vega, Sriram, Kishore
Tamil Padam (2009)
A movie about all tamil movies. A serious spoof. And very funny one too!
This is very much what you see in all tamil films today and much what you don’t see that often on Tamil movies.
If you have liked Scary movie spoofs then this movie is an absolute desi version of such kind. I guess there are so many cliches in Tamil cinema that a spoof would just be too perfect! And I don’t think any of our Tamil heroes would ever appreciate such a cinema and that’s what makes this film very funny to the bone. Some of the most stupid moments but thoroughly enjoyable are Shiva’s classical dance piece to impress his girl friend, and rip off of many fight scenes (mainly from Vijay films), court scene and the judge in the climax, and popular dialogues of Kamal and Vijaykanth . The director and dialogue writer CS Amudhan’s laughs are spot on, punctuated by the scripts outrageous glossary of over-the-top depiction of Tamil film stereotypes. Nirav Shah’s camera and Kannan’s music mainly the song O Maha Zeeya.. (Harris Jayaraj & Vijay Antony spoof music) makes it a rip-roaring rocker!
Director: CS Amudhan
Cast: Shiva, Disha Pandey
Peraanmai (2009)
How would you define a movie that has shades of a thriller, political, action, patriotic and very realistic approach to it? I cannot really slot this movie into any specific genre. I remember I literally skipped so many days to watch this film and saw everything istead. First of all the title didn’t excite at all. This was initially of course. Then the Jayam Ravi factor. I thought this actor was all nuts and no big deal about him. A lesser known director, mainly new comers… And lastly it’s got some action sequences by the leading ladies… I mean I thought, Tamil cinema has gone bonkers to show ladies doing some kick ass here and there.
Then the credits began to roll. The first scene happend and then this movie ticked. I think its one of those good action films to roll out from Tamil cinema off late.
Jayam Ravi is the first generation graduate from a tribal family, who works as a forest ranger. His superior Ponvannan often accuses him as he hails from a tribal community. He takes five girls for forest trekking, who came for NCC training from a college. The girls who hate Jayam Ravi plans to get punished by his superior.
Director: SP Jhananathan
Cast: Jeyam Ravi, Ponvannan, Urvashi
Other films that I have watched recently are Eeram and Yavarum Nalam. Both are very well crafted horror/ thrillers. Extremely well executed with some great camera work and amazing concept.
And some more yet to watch and still lying in my to-do-lists… Kalavani, Kalloori, Madarasapattinam, Koripalaiyam, Renigunta, Poo, Subramaniyapuram, Mayandi Kudumbathaar etc
And I am sure to watch them all very soon!
Watching these kind of films is like a breath of fresh air.
Aren’t we tired of the same commercial potboilers of Vijay, Ajith, Rajnikanth and all his me-toos? I don’t have the patience to watch any more the age-old formulaic films driven by these so called superstars.
I guess it’s only these kind of new-age movies which provide a fresh perspective on new and old ideas.
And I guess the time is right for Tamil cinema. That time is now!
I, a proud Tamizhan!
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