Little Things 2

Little Things- Season 2

"We are not extraordinary people, we have to work hard to make our everyday special."

Their story was a mess still beautiful, complicated yet understandable, heart- warming but also hurting, just like any thing related to love. The sole reason why Little Things succeeded so much was due to the highly relatable content told in a very realistic manner, gladly devoid of anything that makes it larger than life. Dhruv and Mithila were characters we could all relate to in fact they were one among us. When I heard NETFLIX adopting the show, at first, I was excited, but I was equally sceptical of the prediction that this would impact the show in a positive way. 

My fears came true, Little Things season 2 is grand, too much evident of the production support they received but moments reminiscent of season 1 are the only thread holding the plot together.

Don’t get me wrong, LT Season 2 is equally watchable and keeps its audience engaged. 

But remember the effortless chemistry between the biriyani monster and momo, the tense yet enjoyable moments and the ultimate joy of little things, that that the first season won our hearts with? Sadly, I found most of it missing or rather forced in the season 2. May be that’s what love over a period does to even the best of people. Or may be its the time and the rat race we are all into, which forces us to chase a better lifestyle in a way that we almost forget what our heart desires for.  

Dhruv Sehgal, who is also the writer of the series did set his foot into few of the deeper struggles that we all face in a relationship like the uncertainties, taking the back seat, handling stereotypes and ultimately finding comfort by addressing the uncomfortable, which most of us run for our life from. These are complex issues and requires a lot of sensitivity in portrayal, which I believe Dhruv was able to justify to a great extend still it felt like the demons of those uncomfortable situations did scare him to skim through the surface level and run for the conclusion.  Or may be there was only little that one can pen down about such complex sensitive issues. 

Dhruv Sehgal and Mithila Palkar are at their best in “moments” which are really heart-warming like when their relationship attains a certain level of maturity or really takes a hit, like the last moment where she hugs him emotionally or in a conversation where Dhruv addresses a key issue of uncertainties we face in different stages of our love life, which usually writers sugar coat and avoid. At the same time, parts of very intense moments and a few of the dialogue deliveries, felt forced and lacked the depth it required.

One of the most cherished memories of my childhood is my mother cooking some of the dishes which will make one drool. There was a problem though, when she makes it for just 4 of us, it was an out of the world dish, ingredients precise and flavour just perfect. Inspired by the same when she used to recreate the magic for larger number of people in the yearly festival of Onam or Vishu, somehow didn’t work that well. Not that it wasn’t good, but something somewhere was missing. In the department of culinary skills, I have inherited that quality from her and so may be that was the emotion I was left with, when I finished watching all the episodes on the night of release in NETFLIX.

May be, just maybe, some incredibly yummy dishes are best when we allow the little things to be themselves.

A big shutout to Prateek Kuhad for “Pause”, that was awesome.

P.S. Picture Courtesy- NETFLIX, Firstpost, The Quint and Youtube

96

96- Movie Review

"Kadhal piriyum, Kadhavukal moodamal vazhiyanapungal, kaathiringal"

(Never close your heart for love, even if it left you broken)

Have you ever had a first, innocent yet intense love story during school or college days which ended abruptly? Life and you moved on or at least pretended to do so until one day the moment to face the same old love sent butterflies fluttering in your stomach? Until that insanely beating heart brutally reminded you that only life moved on, but the intensity of that old school love is still the same and is piercing a thousand cuts through your soul?

How many times have a movie hit you as if it was completely or in parts was taken from your life? Watching 96 gave me goosebumps at points on how relatable it was.  True to the vintage and nostalgic title, 96 reaches far deep into those corners of your heart which you have pretended to have moved on from and makes you reach far into your own self.

96 is a beautiful poem picturized in the best possible way yet keeping it refreshingly real. This movie about a post-breakup love story is beyond everything that the movies have been feeding us for years. It thankfully is devoid of any melodrama just like in real life, unlike what we have been witnessing in similar genre movies like Cheran’s 2004 Autograph. There is pain, love, and frustration, but there are no pathetic aftermaths of the same. Director C. Premkumar backed up by brilliant performances by Vijay Sethupathi and Trisha Krishnan has given us a tale which is very layered and is sure to take you down the memory lane.

Ram and Janu are school friends who almost studied together until 10^th. Ram is that gentle boy that most of us might have had as a friend in school, nervous but intense. Janu, is the naïve but strong girl and an amazing singer staying true to the name her parents gave S. Janaki. Director has consciously attempted to avoid clichés and useless melodrama, which in fact can make one feel irritated and craving for it at the same time, as we are so used to it.  But given a second thought, you will immediately relate to the plot, as in reality that will be the exact way how we might react. Take it from someone who went through those exact moments.

People who run behind to create, capture and retain moments like photographers or creative people often will have few moments they cherish and carry with them close to heart. The wanderers, the lost souls often knows where exactly they belong but also realizes that they can never belong there anymore, so they keep wandering away from it. Maybe that’s why the quote says, not all wanderers are lost. Ram and Janu are lost in their own ways, where to the question of if one is happy, the answer can only be that, they are at peace. I guess that’s the beauty of being young when you have the courage to make even filmy things come true while in the adulthood even normal interactions need to be thought after. 

Happiness is lost in the bygone past and now they have managed to learn the skill of being in peace with the tiny bits of lost joy gifted back for moments, years later. A reunion, few hours of togetherness, moments you wish never ended and instances where you desperately wanted to freeze time, this movie will break your heart and mend it too.  It is with great difficulty that I am trying to review this movie without getting overwhelmed or giving out spoiler details.

Casting is simply perfect in this movie, let it be Aadithya Baaskar and Gouri G Kishan as the younger versions of Ram and Janu or Vijay and Trisha as the current versions, the supporting characters, each and everyone play their parts so well that it is impossible not to root for them. 

After Vikram Vedha, this is one movie where Vijay Sethupathi showcases his usual excellence as an actor. Let it be an intense moment of seeing his teenage love or to blush sinking his teeth into himself, he has given a superb performance. 

This is the most layered and intense role Trisha bagged after Vinnaithandi Varuvaaya and Kodi, it was a pleasure to watch her on screen performing with such an ease.

Apart from all these factors, the one quintessential factor which makes 96 such a heart-warming journey is its music by the Govind Menon, vocalist and violinist of the band Thaikkudam Bridge. He has proved himself with just this one movie that he is a Master of Music, tones and even silence. While he captivated our hearts with the surreal tracks Kadhale and Anthaathi weeks before the movie release, throughout the movie he brilliantly used music and even silence, the talent very few in the industry knows.  One will never hear a more haunting use of Nadaswaram like the one used while describing a painful moment from the past neither one would have heard such heart touching lyrics in a long while. After the haunting poem “Unnod Naan Iruntha” written by Vairamuthu sir and rendered by Aravind Swamy in Iruvar, “Kadhal”, written by Karthik Netha at the end of Anthathi song, rendered by Nasser about the importance of remaining open to the possibility of love, cut through my heart.

In short, 96 as rightfully quoted by Janu in the movie is “Pazhaya Vaasanai”, a scent from the past which will let loose a swarm of memories, some which will break your heart and some which will balm the same. 

The ‘what if’ scenario where Trisha reimagines a past which would have been so perfect if at all not for a slight misconception, or a portion where Ram made Janu’s worst fears come true where she realizes all her imaginations happened in real or the heart wrenching scene of desperation to spend a few more minutes with the one you love, 96 will remain close to my heart forever.
  

While my heart pained watching the climax, it also tried to convince me that whatever future has in store for Ram and Janaki, the memories they cherish will stay together just like it did in mine. 

Varathan

Varathan – Movie Review

‘Extreme justice is extreme injustice’ but some people deserve just that.

Statutory Warning: Skip this review if you have a fragile ego about the homeland Kerala which overpowers the reality.

Varathan though after heavily promising a very raw slice of life in the first half,  disappoints at that end in the second half. The fact of interest is that even that change of plot is executed so well that someone who likes well-crafted plot scenes and action sequences will enjoy. Though at an emotional and perspective level I felt cheated, Varathan is indeed worth a watch.

When I watched NH10 in 2015, the spectacular thriller by Anushka Sharma, it was a gut-wrenching experience. The second half made me feel a range of emotions, from pain to outright angst and revenge. The movie was indeed a reality check but was set in again a state which is known for its atrocities against women, Haryana.

The beginning of the plot is somewhat similar for both the movies, what begins as a journey for reviving romance lost in the fast-paced life, turns out to be a truly horrific experience. 

When NH10 kept it raw and realistic, by second-half director Amal Neerad, had to bring in his expertise in creating stellar action scenes (I cannot stop praising those parts too, they are indeed spectacular, watch out for the final scene in the mud).

Where Varathan scored marks for me was the fact that, director Amal Neerad made it a point to finally address the obnoxious attitude towards privacy and the patriarchal atrocities against women in none other than the God’s Own Country which boasts of 100% literacy. For centuries the villages of the state, have been shown as that picturesque green haven full of sweet and loving people (refer Sathyan Anthikad movies, as sweet as they are, it was becoming too sweet to be true). While in the reality, most of the women like me wanted to scream to the world that this place is not just what is being portrayed and that literate crooks are more venomous than the illiterate ones.

As a woman who has traveled most of the states in the country including Bihar, Haryana and currently living in Delhi, which according to media is infamous for the rape cases, I have never felt so much unrest and disgust as much as I have felt back in my own state, Kerala. The sense of entitlement the men carry around, the attitude that they own the women in the house and on the roads, that a woman of not their reach or their type is a land to conquer and 

that no one, literally no one deserves a private life, are somethings which from an early age made me hate that place and ultimately lead to my nomad life, throughout the country.

It is painfully difficult to explain how these behaviors which everyone says is everywhere, is dangerously different in the God’s own country, as the differences seem to be subtle yet are fatal. Personally, the biggest victory of the movie for me was that the differences and the disgusting realities associated with it are realistically captured in the first half of the movie.

The movie’s core strength is its Cinematography by Littil Swayamp who is sure to make you cringe, feel the disgust and horror, scene by scene backed up by the detailed direction by Amal Neerad. While they succeeded to capture the beauty of the village, they also knew how to induce the elements of absolute dismay supported by the on-point background scores by Sushin Shyam.

Fahadh Faasil and Aishwarya Lekshmi as Aby and Priya are perfect on- screen, their chemistry is flawless and as real as it can get. 

Aishwarya as Priya perfectly resonates with all the women who get the gut instincts of violation way ahead and struggles to convey it to the world. 

Fahadh, as usual, is in his best form and excels as Aby, the naïve outsider in a village who is clearly unaware of the ritualistic ways of affection.

I wish the second half didn’t turn the way it did, changing Aby into his new self but as much as my evolved thoughts restrict to word it but knowing the reality of how creepy sometimes things can go, I must admit that things might as well happen the way it did.

It takes a good director to bring a strong makeover to an actor, Sharaf U Dheen as Josey brings forth for the first time a realistic performance which any women can associate with the local Romeo turned perverts they have encountered in their lives. Rest of the supporting cast too does their best making Varathan the believable storyline it is.

Keeping aside the plot, where director just couldn’t stop himself from giving his central character a heroic twist and suddenly giving a compensation twist to the female character at the end, realizing damsels in distress are not in trend these days, Varathan is an absolute delight to watch, with subtle yet powerful statements whole throughout, which is sure to ring a bell if you have been UpToDate with the recent social news of Kerala. The self-proclaimed managers of culture, the real-life jobless perverts and predators were for me, most venomous than all the villains of Amal Neerad movies put together.

P.S.: By now you might have already said “Not all men” a thousand times or you might not even tolerate to read up till now. My sincere apologies for hurting your feelings and even I who has more men as friends than women, know that not all men are the same but unfortunately, the different lot are alarmingly at a low. And as women we put up with such savage behaviour from most men almost all the time, imagine how horrible it is to live every second on our toes, preparing to retort to a violation. Only when one accepts the reality, can anything be done to change the situation so let’s start accepting the truth and start to collectively change the mindsets.

Picture Courtesy: IMDb, Youtube, The Hindu

Ranam- Detroit Crossing

Ranam- Detroit Crossing- Movie Review

“Second chances are sometimes too costly”

A life trapped in endless crimes, a faraway mirage for a better life and the yearning for redemption, Ranam- The Detroit crossing, revolves around this plot.  Ranam is a movie which is technically rich with strong performances and personally to me, an improvement in the superstar/gangster genre movies in Malayalam. Upcoming directors can certainly learn a thing or two from Ranam, about how to make a decent dark gangster movie with brilliant cinematography (Jigme Tenzing is perfection in human form) along with the editing which makes Ranam, comparable to mafia dramas of the West.

Ranam as a movie relies on the strong performances of the central characters played by Prithviraj as Aadhi, a runaway driver and member of an outsider gangster group in Detroit struggling to maintain their relevance, led by Damodar Ratnam played by Rahman.  

It is a pleasure to watch the evolution of Prithviraj as an actor and even as a person throughout these years. He plays Aadhi, the central character who will remind us of all those stages in life where we have been in a situation so painful that it kind of saturates you and makes you settle down in the same pit again and again. Still rarely when there is a hope of redemption, you are helpless but to yearn for it, knowing the hefty price you might have to pay.

A haunting past, a present he never wished for, a future he is not sure of and only one vague chance at making everything better, stuck in this uncertainty, Aadhi is the character that I rooted for throughout the movie played by Prithvi with such masterful restraint.  He makes you feel the pain, confusion, guilt and the fearless decisiveness at the face of ultimate destiny and effortlessly delivers another wonderful performance after the heart-wrenching portrayal of Joshua in Koode.

Rahman, who has already established his craft has played the cold-hearted leader of the gang with perfection. Damodar is composed, cunning and downright cruel when it comes to maintenance of his legacy as a gangster in Detroit where things are slowly going out of his power. With a soft corner only towards his brother Selvam played by Ashwin Kumar, I cannot imagine someone doing the role better than him. Ashwin transforms completely into the mannerisms of a gangster brat so well that he is one of the most authentic supporting casts in the film.

Isha Talwar as Seema justifies her role well except for some forced dialogue delivery spots which fell flat. Although, it was a relief to see her in a different role, as a woman with so many complications, in a land and household foreign to her, struggling to get used to the negligence. She is the typical portrayal of the damsel in distress for the hero of the film to rescue, in all the cliched situations one could imagine. Thankfully Nirmal managed to make even this familiar plotline a bit different in his own unique ways.

Rest of the cast, Nandu as Bhaskar (a close relative of Aadhi), Giju John (as Ahmed Siddique), Shivajith Padmanabhan (as Rajan Kuriakose), Celine Joseph (as Deepika), plays their part well enough. It is them, their situations, their hopeless efforts to survive the plights as immigrants trapped in the present Detroit is what adds to the complexities of the story of Ranam. Nandu’s dialogue, “People think only UAE has immigrants struggling to earn for the better lives of their family back in the homeland” strikes the chords and makes one think of how easy it is for us to believe the imaginary world of a foreign land.

Gripping background music and feel good soundtracks by Jakes Bejoy is another strength of the movie; there is more to look forward to from this budding composer. Ranam is not the best in the gangster thriller genre and certainly has popular clichés, but director Nirmal Sahadev has his own way of storytelling and has thoughtfully crafted the plot and the characters, to keep one engaged. The clever narration by Prithviraj which gives the audience insights into the history of Detroit and the plight of the people in the current scenarios and even into the characters’ background worked well except for certain spots where it felt a bit like the audience were being spoon-fed.

Amidst all its familiar plotlines, Ranam is raw and stand out from all the similar genre of movies I have seen in Malayalam. In short if one must make a gangster movie with a superstar in it, then this is the way how it should be done.

P.S. Picture Courtesy- IMDb, Youtube

Manmarziyaan

Manmarziyaan - Movie Review

The eternal chaos called love, is what Manmarziyaan tries to encapsulate.  The confused state of mind when in love, the thin lines of right or wrong which frequently gets blurred, and the fragility of life decisions we often take, Anurag Kashyap has managed to portray the catastrophic events in lives of people in love, beautifully.

After a while, Anurag managed to impress me within last two weeks, as an actor in the Tamil film, Imaikkaa Nodigal (check out the blog for Imaikkaa Nodigal’s review) with his effortless acting and now as a director with Manmarziyaan, by portraying the complexities of the feeling called love, successfully. When an about to be thirty me, wanted to dismiss the film as unrealistic, my 20 plus heart who went through catastrophic life events due to the same destructive, yet enriching feeling called love, vouched for the film as the justifiable portrayal of souls messed up in real life.

Manmarziyaan is a mess (quite literally towards the end :P) but is a refreshing take on love and relationships. The concept is conventional of a love triangle but the portrayals of characters and their treatment is original and relatable. It is tempting at various junctures to pass off the movie as too mature to be realistic especially Abhishek’s Character, but as much as we might hate to admit, this is a reality too.

The story revolves around Rumi (Taapsee Pannu) and Vicky (Vicky Kaushal), the rebels without a cause in love and Robbie (Abhishek Bachchan), the too good to be true yet the sweetest and mature character of the plot. Rumi and Vicky’s love is real and unapologetic and showcases every reality of the generation’s love life, sex, immaturity, commitment issues and shattering life’s reality check-ins.

Writer Kanika Dhillon has layered each character and developed the plot so well and a bit too much in detail that the whole movie portrays an in-depth exploration of love and the mistakes we commit in love. 

The central casting of the three major characters are brilliant, to say the least. Taapsee as Rumi, the unapologetic, fierce and sometimes unreasonable small-town girl, is one of my favorite performances of her career. Vicky aka Sandhu ka ladka, as the typical Punjabi Munda with no actual control over his life, is played brilliantly by Vicky Kaushal. I am so looking forward to more of his talent ahead. 

Last but not the least is, Abhishek Bachchan as Robbie, the perfect marriage suitor coming into the plot because of an accidentally arranged, marriage proposal, caused out of rage. He plays the good guy with such clever restraint that it will make you want to scream for him. 

He, at least for me is the kind of men that we really need, who is subtle, sensitive yet knows what he really wants and stands to fight for it, without any hulla about it.  

All the three characters of the plot are not someone you can feel sorry for neither are they likable at first, but they are so real, complicated and portrays elements from all our of real lives that you cannot hate them either.

Music by Amit Trivedi is fresh and a perfect fit to the storyline, though I felt the background score did try to spoon-feed emotions a bit at few plots. The soundtracks will stay with you even after the movie, Daryaa and Sachi Mohabath is already on loop in my playlist.

You will see Anurag’s elements from previous movies, especially DevD, strewed in here and there, which were more or less repetitive. At the same time, there is the beauty of giving even the supporting characters moments that last like, Vicky’s father giving a reality check to Vicky about his life choices or Rumi’s grandfather trying to converse to Rumi through eyes, that if she was ok are sweet points that stayed with me. 

The climax scene between Rumi and Robbie having a long exchange of dialogue over a walk back home was a delight to watch and to be honest a much-needed break for the pace of the movie which went messier in the second half as the emotions get into more complexities.

After Dev D, Manmarziyaan is one realistic love story which came out of Bollywood after a long time, without its typical sanitizations of emotions and characters. To put it short, as Ananya Bhattacharya from India Today posted, “Manmarziyaan gives women their DevD”.

P.S.: Picture Courtesy- FilmiBeat, IMDb, Hindustaan, Youtube

Imaikkaa Nodigal

Imaikkaa Nodigal- Movie Review

Love. Loss. Ego

Every act in this world is a consequence of love, loss or ego, is what I could absorb from Imaikkaa Nodigal, which seems like quite a food for thought. What could have been a standard and shorter suspense thriller, Imaikkaa Nogidal is unfortunately dragged with a cliché and clearly irritating subplot. But before we dive into what went wrong, this film certainly deserves to be called a decent thriller with strong performances.  While Atharvaa, tested my patience with his mostly blunt acting, Anurag Kashyap and Nayanthara, made me go wow with their killer performances.

Nayanthara, in her second innings, have been cautiously selecting roles which provide her quite a larger platform to perform and justifiably excels in the same too. She is a stylish, strong and talented CBI officer Anjali Vikramadithyan, as usual with a storm behind the calm waters. I was happy to see her completely switching between emotions, something which was kind of missing in her previous roles; there were shades of sadness lurking behind all her emotions on screen. Or was it just me who felt so, not Sure.

Tamil Cinema or films in general I guess are finally coming to terms with the idea that not all negative characters need to look negative. Even the cutest or normal of the individuals can be the villain in a story. Anurag Kashyap, as Rudra aka ACP Martin Roy, excels beyond expectations and years after Aravind Swamy, I finally found one villain I could adore. He performs his role of a psychotic villain with so much ease and conviction that it makes you go crazy at points, this man is immensely talented. 

Stylish as hell, with deadly eyes and robust voice (thanks to director Magizh Thirumeni who dubbed for Anurag), coupled with Hiphop Tamizha's intimidating background score, Rudra is sure to send chills down your spine.

Vijay Sethupathi aka Vikramadithyan, as well established was a clever marketing addition to the plot and does what he is best at. Small portion filled with statement lines, good laughs and an emotional message for his daughter, he was as always, a pleasure to watch on screen.  

The chemistry between Nayanthara and Vijay Sethupathi was cute just like in “Naanum Rowdy Thaan”. After Vikram Vedha, I have been hearing quiet cold reviews of his performances in movies that came after and hope that the intensity of talent this man possesses, never go wasted.

The daughter of Nayanthara, played by Manasvi Kottachi, deserves a mention too but unfortunately, in my senses, not a positive one. While at few junctures the scenes were cute but mostly I was helpless but to think why we need to portray the children of strong women as so outspoken at a very young age?? 

And no, the kid isn’t talking something sensible, in the lengthiest screen space given to her, she is made to hurl abuses at others.   Maybe it's just me who generally cannot understand how people enjoy when kids irrespective of gender is made to talk and act in a way like adults; can we not let them be kids? Amidst all this, Manasvi is a little bundle of cuteness especially towards the end when Nayanthara shares a subtle yet sweet moment with her.

Coming to my major trouble with the movie; the subplot involving actor Atharvaa and his love life was simply not relevant to the major storyline or rather could have given a clean thriller slot for the movie if that portion was omitted. 

Annoyingly filled with overacting from Atharvaa and his love interest played by actress Raashi Khanna making her debut in Tamil (another trophy fair queen actress for Kollywood- honestly, I have nothing against fair actors but Kollywood’s obsession with fairness but no talent is simply unbearable over years), the subplot brings in every cliché part of a common Kollywood romcom (a hardly noticeable love song, ultimately irritating breakup song and some age-old love troubles). 

Don’t be surprised if you see the pair dancing to the same steps and backdrops of some recent famous Bollywood songs or them enacting cliched scenes from previous Tamil romcoms with no genuine emotions. Halfway into the movie, you will be desperately wondering why director Ajay Gnanamuthu, after his successful horror outing Demonte Colony, chose to focus on so many clichés to build up the commercial aspects for the plot rather than trying to deliver the story crispier and better as it already was.

While the soundtracks by Hiphop Tamizha was hardly noticeable except for one song, just like in his previous movie “Meesaya Murukku”, his background score is worth a mention as it adds a lot of value to the thrill in the screenplay. However, he could take a lesson or two in how to use silence effectively to make a few scenes better.

The action sequences are decent, some are completely illogical but have been cleverly shot in a compelling manner to pass of the issues. Overall, ignoring intricate logical details, make-believe scenes in the sub-plots and predictability, Imaikkaa Nodigal is an engaging thriller with stellar performances.

P.S. Picture Courtesy Indiaglitz and Youtube

Kaala And Rajinikanth

While I was waiting to watch Kaala in the theatre, surprisingly it dawned on me that, this was the first movie of Rajinikanth, that I was about to watch in a theatre. It wasn’t intentional, most of his movies came out long before I even got entry to this world and the rest were old enough to come on TV by the time I grew up enough to understand movies. I always had this crazy love for the language and traditions of TamilNadu, the reason to which I haven’t yet been able to figure out. So, while I grew up, more than the Malayalam movies I have watched Tamil movies; but Rajinikanth was never a huge chunk of the movies that I grew up with, it was mostly new faces who started off their career in Tamil Cinema like Ajith, Vijay, Arjun, etc., but I knew Rajinikanth was not just an actor but a sensation in TamilNadu.

It was ARRahman who intensified my love for Tamil, the amazing songs he composed in Tamil made it impossible, not to know the meaning of them. And it was ARRahman who introduced Rajinikanth to me too; since he did the music for Muthu and Padayappa, I watched both and started kind of liking Rajinikanth movies.

  

There was this very relatable humane version to all the characters he played along with the superhero elements. From a very young age I hated the concept of supremacy, no matter whatever justification people attached to it. I have seen subtle, yet impactful versions of suppressions acted out by my own dear ones and people around and it kept irritating me. Rajinikanth movies (at least the ones that I watched) always had this thread of rising of the working community against the power of class and caste plot, which kind of kept me interested in his movies. 

And honestly, I can’t deny, there is a charm and aura that he carries so well around him which is at times impossible to avoid.

Cutting straight to late 90s and early 2000, director Shankar came into Tamil movie industry, introducing concept of “mass” movies and extrapolating the heroism of actors. His only movie I could connect to honestly was “Mudhalvan” and after that with each actor in Tamil Industry he started imposing the larger than life concept. Except for Arjun, who got his career best in “Mudhalvan”, I would say, Shankar’s version of heroism didn’t work out too well for a long period. The most hit person by Shankar’s “mass” efforts, was Rajinikanth. 

From a simple and humane actor and human being, his movies with Shankar though economically successful, brought Rajinikanth to the extent of being a whatsapp joke. 

The stupid or rather irritating storylines, efforts to make Rajinikanth look like god knows what not, pairing of him with actresses three times younger to his age and moreover taking the human out of that actor, Shankar literally destroyed everything Rajinikanth was ever known for. I will always question Rajinikanth, for his decision to sign such projects too. Anyways, all efforts went into the drain, Rajinikanth’s failed attempts continued through movies like Enthiran, Linga etc, which invited criticism and jokes rather than love from the real audience.

It was recently that PA Ranjith, gave him back his lifeline in Cinema with Kabali. It was for me, a huge relief to see the man as himself or at least relatable, in Kabali. I was too skeptical to watch it on the big screen because of my previous experiences with his recent films but finally, when I did watch it on Amazon Prime, I was rather surprised and happy as an audience. Ranjith had all elements of Shankar in him but he managed to bring back the humane element which made Rajinikanth, the star of the masses. There was also this fresh element of female characters with some strong base and thankfully not every action scene had Rajinikanth kicking villains with his foot to someplace out of the planet; instead it had scene where the supporting characters try to save him, not just by taking a bullet and asking him to avenge but by actually taking the control of the action.

Kaala’s plotline is similar to many of the Rajinikanth’s movies, except for the location and superb but subtle inclusion of the ‘he who must not be named’ . 😊

When Kaala impressed me with superb casting and refreshing characterization, it killed my hopes with the storyline which, in the effort of showing off too many things, ultimately forgot where the destination was. 

Easwari Rao, as Karpooravalli literally stole the show, while Anjali Patil as Puyal,  pulled off effortlessly the quintessential message which was really needed for every woman, who thinks life ends where their chunni falls off. Nana Patekar as “HE who must not be named” excelled as always and the new faces too did their best. Samuthirakani, kept confusing me with his role that whether he actually was not interested in anything happening around, was happily drunk and getting it done with or was he making fun of the entire team who were trying too hard.    

Unfortunately, I could see the ghost of Shankar overpowering many of the scenes and plot areas of the film. I would really like to investigate where to find the umbrella that Rajinikanth uses during a fight; seems to be too powerful, can be useful to women in the current scenarios we live in. Sarcasm aside, the story had action sequences which will either make you laugh or think who in the world did the director think, he was making this movie for? One of the most irritating factors of Kaala was the songs; while Santhosh Narayanan’s BGMs were brilliant, the irritating and unwanted mix of genres of music made to an avial of songs were rather pathetic. A rap mix even at someone’s burial, like seriously?

Kaala is no different, it has all elements of a typical PA Ranjith film, but personally, I feel it failed to touch the chord, even after showcasing the reality of the urban poor picturized naturally to a great extent. It certainly will remind you of the fact that every single of our activity in the urban life we live, will be impossible without these people who we conveniently ignore and keeps meters out of our hearts and cities. And honestly the climax scene will make you wish you had a remote to rewind and watch again; it was pure, enjoyable “mass”.

But even after all of this, Kaala, couldn’t create the same feeling of relief after I watched Kabali, instead it lit the fire of doubts that if PA Ranjith will soon take the same path of Shankar. Rajinikanth, except for the action sequences and few scenes here and there, is the typical old humane version which is indeed a relief and acted really well to give elements for satisfaction to the “mass” crowds too. So, if you are a Rajini fan or a fan of “mass” movies in general, Kaala is indeed a good watch. At least this is one of Rajinikanth’s movies, where you won’t have to completely leave your brain outside the theatre.

***/ *****