Chekka Chivantha Vaanam – Diamonds Cut Diamonds

Chekka Chivantha Vaanam – The Crimson Red sky

In a bloody hunt beneath the red sky,unfolds a loud and racy drama of rage.Amid stupendous splendour,arrives Mani Ratnam’s much awaited ensemble Chekka Chivantha vaanam re-establishing and reinforcing the magician’s magical hold over cinema.With the thumping beats of “Sevanthu pochu Nenju“( the heartbleeds) begins the brutal hunt ,ending in the haunting question of “ Idhayam Thaanguma?”( O heart! Can you bear this pain?).As the phenomenal music and deep lyrics says it all,it is about bleeding ruthless hearts making their way towards ruling the kingdom of crime, bearing betrayal and irreparable losses in the pestilent path.The film takes the unapologetic side under the red sky providing us a sincere account of misery happening within the other side of crime- we have had a commendable lot of films where the network of crime and it’s devoted family is handled at a safer distance . With this film,the distance is bridged and we become a part of the family , realising and feeling their motives, justifications,greed and miscellaneous emotions.

Anything unique and unusual is naturally intriguing – empowered with this ,the film stands tall owning all probable advantages.

We have Prakash Raj as Senapathi- the king of crime with his bold and beautiful wife Laxmi(Jayasudha).As the heads of family,they keep it intact but are torn apart as things fall out of place.Senapati is made endearing with elements of finesse left throughout his screen presence leaving us hold pity towards the nature of betrayal he has been subjected to.There is no powerful backstory to highlight the rise and magnitude of his prominence but we get reasonable hype to relate to his character’s majesty.For instance,as he blends as one into the part of nature,his son’s old friend ( we will talk about the sons and character in the later part) remarks wistfully that an epic has come to an end leaving them all as void – such was the power he had during his reign.The humane side of him is revealed in minute moments uplifting his character.As Senapathi returns to consciousness in the hospital post suffering a serious attack from enemies(?),he asks regarding his wife and then about his car driver who accompanied them.This depicts his concern for those around him yet his own blood rage against him, being blinded by the greed for power.Despite being aware of who the attackers were,he leaves it to the almighty’s fortune expressing a suppressed amount of regret in his sins.

He is not the “Godfather” kind of Don Dad who strives with his sons to withhold the family-atleast,his family is not the same.The sons are three different beings ,all with a quest for power and control.However ,the heartbreaks that the father and the family suffer draw us to the truthful words from Godfather which goes ,” The saddest thing about betrayal is that it never comes from your enemies”.

As the three Rajas– VaradhaRajan,ThiyagaRajanand EthiRajan battle for Senapathi’s throne, betrayal and brutality magnify.Throughout the film,these characters are widely addressed by their first names without including ” Raja” highlighting that none of them are one.Casting is the power of the film- the entire lot from Jayasudha to Mansoor Ali Khan boost up the red sky.

Varadha- the first and the closest is hasty and barbarous.While the latter part of description applies to the other two,they own the outlook of a gentleman and a swagger.The last one owns the stealer swag.
Thiyagu- who holds the Dubai sector of his crime business lives his luxurious Hayati(life) with diverse vernacular and two sides owning the wit to win.Finally,we meet the stellar stealer of the show-“Ethi”.Ethi is as much STR as STR is Ethi.That is a perfect example of masterful casting.This is unequivocally Str’s massive classy comeback.Starting with “Naan Varanuma?”( Should I come?) callousness to his entreating to his beloved mother,he emerges with style and soul.

Rasool Ebrahim- the spine of the film is bestowed upon Vijay Sethupathi and he is a joyful surprise who adds amusement to Mani sir’s magic.He has a solid backstory which ultimately backfires.He is comical, convincing, morally vicious and what not! There is a scene involving his confrontation with Varadha( yes,Rasool was the friend who remarked connecting Senapathi to be an Epic) post his suspension- he being in the opposite and lower level of a building ( an under construction site!) and Varadha on the opposite top level.They are on the same building but on opposite sides and different levels- there lies the point.He is in the shore while the sharks battle it out in the bloody sea.

The women under the sky are strong and even brutal as the men are – a mother heartbroken at what her darling children are up to, a wife standing gutsily with her husband despite the travail, another one who has to bear the brunt of her husband’s sins and candidly expresses her disgust over the same and there is a young and easy girl falling a victim to the power play.

We have Aditi Rao Hydari playing Varadha’s illegitimate girlfriend.She has scarce influence over the film despite her genuine love for Varadha.She merely provides us with an insight into Varadha’s character and act as a supplement.Chitra(Joe at he best),the equal strength of Varadha portrays rage and boundless love for her better half-she says she will rather die than seeing her husband fall.The women here are distinct from one another in this film which revolves around the men .Aishwarya Rajesh does her earnest to Renu with a Sri Lankan dialect and a sturdy sense for self.When her husband ,Thiyagu meets her after she is imprisoned under a conspiracy,she doesn’t entirely breakdown that he has pushed her into this.Neither does she assure him that she will bear it out all for him.She tells him calmly yet stoutly that ” Naan iruka vendiya idathil nee irukirai ,Nee iruka vendiya idathil naan irukiren”( You are where I ought to be while I am here where you are doomed to be).

As love and life evaporate,tears stay moist.A beauteous line from Bhoomi Bhoomi asks “Kadalil meen ondru azhuthaal ,karaiku seithi vandhu serumo?“( Will the tears of fish ever surface?) to which our hearts know no answer.

Of course,the crimson red sky houses ferocious animals- but they are all animals of emotion.The film deftly digs the deeper part of emotions under the heart of crime.Their bleeding hearts beat as well.With consecutive losses of lives,the story moves with sudden pace leaving us longing for a miniscule time interval to delve into death and loss.

We absolutely get a sense of the story and are pulled into the pattern but the story sense develops throughout and finally reaches its peak- the peak where the protagonist is seated with contentment of his steadfast mission’s completion and as the wide shot expands ,we see a stream of water under the dry and red valley revealing that under the blood red sky,there is a stream of blue water – the one of hope fighting the evil which has established years old kingdom of crime.It is all about betrayal but Betrayal of Purpose.Afterall, DIAMONDS CUT DIAMONDS.

Note : Written on 1.10.18

Published : Feb 7

Sarvam Thaala Mayam- A good to watch Guru Shishya tale that is moving ,not momentous

The film begins with Peter Johnson’s spirited voice over that introduces us to the city of the lead prior moving to himself.It is an introduction that evoked a sudden sense of elation within me .It goes: ” Chennai is the only city in the world where an International Airport is named after a screenwriter “( This truly is a pride amidst global conversations pointing to how writers are undermined regardless of their indispensable contributions to the craft ), extending to how we have fondly accepted film personalities as our leaders.

The city’s relentless fad for films transports us to Peter ,a purposeless rogue with an incredible craze for Thalapathy Vijay that he draws the star’s portrait in his exam sheets and leaves to the FDFS.He doesn’t stop there,he serves societal causes in his capacity through the Fan club.This start on cinephilia defines how the community of ours has blended into one with art. We have fallen for its nuances,joy and ache. Here is a young man from a poor and underprivileged background , striving to enter the field of art for which he has fallen – a province that is sophisticated, demanding and is widely identified with the Brahmana Community.Peter wants to be a Mirudangam player.

This film was initially anticipated to be the journey of a Dalit Christian making his way to Carnatic music. Well, the film serves the same and surprisingly soars higher with its central theme which is not just about the young dreamer but his bond with his Mentor.Sarvam Thaala Mayam stands out as a moving mentor – protege tale .

One is a devout Sishya while the other is a godly Guru.The bond they share is the core which is heart warming and so human. The mentor – Vembu Iyer is a Sangeetha Vidhwaan , who is highly confident, competitive and uncompromising when it comes to his Mirudangam music .His convictions over conventions are mistaken for arrogance.We too conceive him that way initially when he tells that he would have become a Supreme Court Judge if not a musician for he is the number one in any field he enters.The next dialogue he mouths unearths the artist in him , assuring us that there is more to this man .He says Law is what he learned but Sangeetham ( Music) is what he loved.

In an other scene when Peter tells Iyer that he wishes to learn Mirudangam from him and become Number 1 in the world ,Iyer tells Peter straight that he can’t.When the distraught Peter asks why , Iyer replies that he is always the Number one in the universe and chuckles.Peter obliges with laughter that it is true and he shall happily be Number 2.

Iyer’s is a personality that is soulful and surprising. He talks in high esteem of the divinity that carnatic music is centered around and tells none can master the art with no understanding of this underlined philosophy.

Over the course ,he contains the ideal subtly to himself and doesn’t force religion over his discriminated protege.

In a scene set outside a temple in the early morning ,Vembu Iyer has his filter coffee served to him in a brass coloured cup and saucer.In another scene ,when Peter returns to his native village ,the tea shopkeeper angrily switches from glass cup to plastic cup to serve tea to him after learning where he belongs to.The two here represent different stratas of the society.Their belief systems and clan aren’t common but passion for music is .It binds them into one.

Back to the scene (do excuse for the turn we took right here ) !

Vembu Iyer remarks on how humble the temple troupe is singing on their way to the worship place and asks Peter on what he infers from them. A lot were expecting that Iyer might be bringing up the concept of religion.He doesn’t.He never does.

He instead,tells Peter his wish as a teacher that leaves us and the protege in joy.

His fingers create magic in the Mirudangam that pulls Peter into music.The Guru gives the rogue purpose ,passion and power of knowledge.

The Guru’s singular vision in music and life creates rivalries , distances him from his true disciple who finds the way back.

The journey that follows unravels the rediscovery the mentor and the disciple arrive at.

A significant subplot that strives to equip the core is the story of Peter ‘s family, his community and their traditional profession – making musical instruments such as Mirudangam ,Tavilu and the alike. They work amidst poverty to provide means for the players to create art at its best.Their beliefs in the profession are equally divine to that of Vembu Iyer’s in his.

The city’s precedence in the intro part attains meaning post interval when Peter confronts a blatant form of caste discrimination at his village.On the other hand,the city helps them lead a small , undisturbed life masking who they are and where they belong to.It doesn’t serve tea in plastic cups to them .It knows no caste in its haste.Back in the village which is empty and dry as their poverty striken lives ,Peter witnesses the scar of his community ‘s suppression amidst the delightful yet poignant beats of Dingu – Dongu.

The frustrations mount up in him and reveal themselves seemlessly through his fingers as beats.

His father , a Mirudangam maker has no heart to switch jobs despite the guilt of being incompetent in extending financial support to the family.His dream is to safeguard the trade of Mirudangam Making – he proudly refers to it as Art.However ,he doesn’t approve of the elitist art Peter is dreaming of.He, like other parents wants his son to follow his steps and shoulder his dreams.

It is sad that there is no fulfilling and complete track of this subplot .It all exists in parts – inserted.

G.V.Prakash who plays Peter establishes relevance and he can owe it both to his gradual evolutions as an actor and his progress as a profound Musician .

Elango Kumaravel vanishes and reappears , struggling to leave an effect .The inserted parts come with no highlights of the father’s take on the bond his son develops with the icon.
Nedumudi Venu as “Pallakad Vembu Iyer ” embodies the charisma in an excellent extensive way throughout.Vembu Iyer ‘s innate sense of humour finds its way out in his frustrations with students during training sessions and stands out as an ice breaker with the master.The students get confused on whether their master is scolding them or praising them .That is his way ,his Nature.He doesn’t believe that carnatic music exists in an unadulterated form anywhere except in concerts.His reaction (- brief and brilliant )while watching his disciple perform in television is priceless.

There are others too who add up to the conflict – a fired employee with a sense of revenge ,a scheming TV Show host who sows the seeds for the Guru -Shishya bond’s destruction and rediscovery,an NRI who gives up PH.d admissions at Harvard to learn Mirudangam from Iyer but humbly quits due to his insecurities around the staunch ideals of his master.His stance towards the end is neither clear nor convincing.

Rajiv Menon did mention clearly that in this film of his ,love will merely serves a supportive factor.He added that it comes suddenly , suddenly turns and suddenly turns deep.It is all so sudden and soiled with a segment on stalking too.It is more of a supplement than a support that doesn’t make it any taller , stronger and sharper but it does give way to Maya Manamohana ,a mystical Melody composed by Rahman and is the last song penned by the legendary Na.Muthukumar .

His words and work that extend beyond his breath are a loud reminder on the eternity of art.

The heroine’s talk which was written intending to be poetic ,after the session of love making, transcends Peter in search of Nature’s music .Instances of this sort suggests that Peter largely draws it all from the people around him.This renders the lead passive and leaves us devoid of the spirits displayed with the active voice over of his that accquaints us with the film.

A.R.Rahman ! The name says it all and the music speaks for itself.It is of course , a musical wonder.

“Varlaaama Un Arugil ” is a favorite ,a song that seeps into the soul urging you to listen to it , with eyes closed.The visual and emotional beat of it fail to live up to the nature of the song .It feels as if everything happened in a reflex and the space for the intensity isn’t spread well.Peter musters up guts with the aid of Rum, gets to Vembu Iyer ‘s house the same night ,makes a first impression with dreams suspended in dejection.He doesn’t give up .He persists and wakes up to the song at the end of which he nears his Guru.

When the song arrives again post interval,it really gets you!

When I hear people walking out of the auditorium telling ,” Music kaaga than da intha padame ( This film is just for music )” ,I am partly convinced on how Rajiv Menon has achieved his intentions despite that it would have been better to hear ” Music than Padame “( Music is the film here ).

This is a divergence post the note of creative and emotional convergence with which the movie ends.In a broader sense ,the convergence is the coming together of two classes in the Society – the elite and the emaciated , accepting and embracing one another and this makes Sarvam Thaala Mayam a tale of unity in diversity that highlights art , especially music as the means to attain the virtue of union.

Sarvam Thaala Mayam -A good to watch Guru Shishya tale weaved through mesmerizing Mirudangam beats .It is moving ,not momentous!

Ek ladki koh dekah toh aisa laga – Usual,crowd friendly yet unique and heartening

With the trailer of Ek ladki Koh deka to aisa laga , I was anticipating yet another Bollywood romance and was quite unaffected by ” The most unexpected romance of the year ” tagline it came with.I was just hoping that it doesn’t become a Namaste England .The title track hooked on to me and has never left is grip.I happened to note an article on a newspaper that outlined the theme the film was centered around.

I revisited the trailer. A silhouette of two women pulled apart forcibly by men in turbans and women in salwars.A girl resting her shoulder on an other as she remarks ,” What is the magic of true love when there aren’t any complications?” ,and a girl in yellow salwar extending her hand to the one in green silk as the title goes : How I felt when I saw that girl! It is a Bollywood story but of two women in love- a touch of goosebumps and buoyancy hit the heart.The film however is also about a young playwright who is struggling with his writing and meets the girl who adds magic to his story and life.He rescues her ,chases her from Delhi to Moga ,falls heads over heels in love with her only to find that her orientation towards love is different.Her love has been mocked at and shamed ,it had remained a secret and a guilt .The confession comes only in the interval followed by loud streaks of laughter.The vulnerability Sonam displays as Sweety explains all the loneliness she has been doomed to. The young girl prays the Lord that she be reformed.She is overrideen by guilt and helplessness regarding her love ‘s direction that is stigmatized as disease. She braces herself to compromise for the smiles of her loving Punjabi family that has raised her and her brother with an innate sense of conventional discrimination – her’s is a family that happily hops together to click a selfie with designer jalebi ,a family where men aren’t allowed inside a kitchen exempting situations when the oven needs a fixing .Well ,now you can imagine the odds that go into seeking acceptance for Sweety’s love .Anil Kapoor ,from fighting with his mother for the TV remote , cooking stealthily in the kitchen to exploding on what is normal towards the climax adds meaning and amusement to his part as Sweety’s Beloved rich Punjabi Father.His flirtations with Juhi are a delightful charm that overflows with genuinity and innocence.Raj Kumar Rao,redefines the part of an aspiring writer who is fulfilled that he has found a friend than a girlfriend.More power to his rescue and awareness mission !He leaves Moga ,not in despair but contentment.Thanks to the lack of the baseless, passionate lover boy in him who could have added drama with Ek ladki Koh deka to aisa laga Melody playing as he bids bye to Sweety from the train.

We have all the essential humour to make us laugh – humor that is relevant and not largely distracting .The presence of the same makes this unexpected romance a special rom-com couched on a sensitive theme.

The prominent people in the film are all dreamers .We have Shahil Mirza ,the struggling playwright who dreams of becoming a good writer , Chatro ,a cheerful woman who follows her heart’s call and pursues her dream of acting,the garment business tycoon who has a flair for the art of cooking.And ,of course ,we have the dream of Sweety that is mistaken as a disease.The dreams are kept alive throughout and their happy endings leave our heart warm.

When Sweety hides from her brother in Shahil’s theatre ,Shahil assures her that there is no place better than a theatre to hide from oneself and the world.It is the same theatre that frees Sweety of the chains tied to her love and enables her unravel the truth.

The portions of romance between the lovely women appear only in montages and one ends up rooting largely for the family’s acceptance of Sweety’s love than her union with the lover.The amour is summed up in a two minute song that has relied on the melody to uplift the underlying emotions.

Shahil promises the Chaudary family a play that owns fresh flavour .He narrates the gist : ” Two are deeply in love.Their families don’t approve of their bond.The couple fight it all out and live happily ever after.”

What is so fresh in this age old love story asks Sweety ‘s grandmother.The same question that hit me when I watched the film’s trailer the first time .What if the two in love are women? – this is the unique aspect of Mirza’s play and this film.

Yet,this is no story that will have a happily ever after.It is a love that must toughen up and battle.

It is definitely gladsome to witness the small world of Sweety in Moga letting love be.It is a happy note that our hearts wish could come true in the nation where Section 377 was scrapped only the last year.

This is a good attempt , a welcome one indeed which creates a short feel good movie that arrives at the surface of same -sex love ,safely and unapologetically distancing itself from larger battles involved.Hope the world lets love be.

Julie Anne Peters wrote :

Cut the ending.Revise the script.The man of her dreams is a girl.

When you do the same to Bollywood movies that mark the affairs of the heart ,you get Ek ladki koh dekah toh Aisa Laga.It is usual ,crowd friendly but unique and heartening.