Mamata Didi, the fighter...

Bengalis have always impressed me with their 'never-say-die' attitude apart from their aesthetic sense. It is not really surprising that Tamil films in its early days borrowed extensively from arts in Bengal and many Bengali stalwarts like Kamal Ghosh worked in Tamil films. There is so much hype about Modi being CM of a state for 3 terms. Sheila Dixit has been so. The purposefully forgotten fact is that Communists have been ruling West Bengal for many decades WITHOUT A BREAK.

It is in this perspective that the role of Mamata Banerjee stands out. I could immediately sense seeing her speak that she is a fighter willing to last as long as thinkable. Almost a lone crusader against the Communists, she has been reasonably successful in putting her party - Trinamool Congress as not just an alternative to Communists but also bigger than Congress. In West Bengal, Congress allied with Trinamool Congress after accepting that it is a minor partner and had reasonable success. 2011 is expected to be a watershed for West Bengal with quite a bit of expectations that Communist rule for decades may finally end. If it really materializes, there is no doubt on who should be the Chief Minister. If Sourav Ganguly is the fighter who showed the way in cricket, comrade (;)) Mamata may well show the way in politics. The fighter never gives up and success in 2011 assembly elections will be a mere justification to her efforts for decades.

A double hundred in one-dayer

I am sure eulogies are going to go over the top for a banal knock at an one-day match in yet another Indian pitch. 'No one deserved record more than Tendulkar' goes the first one from the sycophant and ex-teammate from Mumbai. I had always thought of such records and Sachin as 'Yet another record, yet another player?'. Given the fact that he opens the batting and has been playing for so many years (easily 100 matches more than Ponting as of now), it is in some sense strange that he took so long. Especially when he relishes such opportunities against minnows like Bangladesh and in Indian pitches.

So far, so bad :(

Update: 27 Mar 2010

There has been an orchestrated campaign, rather Gavaskar, Sidhu join chorus for Sachin's T20 WC inclusion. There is a 'notion' that only younger players are fit for T20, which the 'veterans' are trying to dispel. Nothing but shadow-kill. Hindu brought out a recent cartoon, which I had thought when I saw this IPL announcement of Lalit Modi for IPL I itself.

The act of politics!

Ajith's talk at a function by Tamil movie industry to felicitate TN CM for providing housing facilities, had found quite some mention in the press.

Ajith, who is known for his nonappearance in such events, made a rare entry yesterday at a glittering ceremony at Nehru Stadium in Chennai. He made a frank appeal to the CM that film fraternity should not be arm twisted to attend such political and social events. He said, “They want us to attend such events and at the same time are against us joining politics.

He has indeed shown great courage to talk frankly on what he felt and he should be complimented on that. At the same time, going into what he said, I dont think he can complain too much. I am not sure if his angst is against attending such functions or opposition against actors entry into politics. Given the profession (well, they say that actors are really professionals), siding with the Government is an occupational hazard. Actors including 'superstars' have no option but to wag their tail for any Government, irrespective of the Chief Minister. In 2006, there was a function by film industry to praise Jayalalithaa (then CM of TN) for acting against video piracy. Within a few months, Karunanidhi became CM of TN and there was another function by the same film industry to praise him. Film industry is inexorably linked to the politics atleast in Tamil Nadu. Stephen Hughes, professor of Anthropology and Sociology, had this to say

On the everlasting association between film and politics, Mr.Hughes says films were seen as an effective medium to spread political ideologies even before the M.G.R. period. “Regional parties found foothold through cinema. The Congress had divided opinions about embracing cinema as a propaganda medium but parties such as the DMK made the most out it.”

Especially given the current economic scenario, it is reassuring that Tamil film industry has been churning lot more films which are also diverse. One of the reasons could be the tax exemption given for films that have Tamil titles. Especially for 'low budget' films, producers and more importantly distributors need to have that comfort zone that even if film does average business, they may be able to get back their money. CM did announce that entertainment tax exemption for Tamil cinema would continue.

With the film industry having such a big chain of jobs - from carpenters to painters to actors, forget media, publicity etc, any step to promote production has to be welcomed by the actors and they cant complain. MR Radha, popular called as நடிகவேள், mentioned way back in a public speech in Malaysia

மக்கள் சொல்லுகிறபடியெல்லாம் கூத்தாடக் கூடியவருக்குத் தான் கூத்தாடினு பேர்.

So actors may not have much choice in such things. Their appointments are booked without their acceptance. All the world is a stage and atleast they are all actors :))

I am the public!

I dont know if I am a 'socialist' by birth :)) but I always had great regard for big public institutions, especially in India. Banks, Railways, Post Office, Police, Sanitary workers etc (no, not the army). I did not have anti- feelings towards private companies but at the same time, I didnt drool over them either. I think maybe in earlier years, most people were envious of private companies because of high pay. I feel Tamils are of 'one in hand is worth two in bush' mindset and eager to plump in for Government jobs. Stability is the main reason why people liked government jobs. It could be another reason why Tamil Government is probably 'bigger' than any other state Government in India.

Public services: a positive experience was an article that reaffirmed my opinion on public organizations. It was nicer to read reader's editor elaborate further with people's comments. More than the railways, I thought that the postal department is doing a fantastic job. I was a frequent letter writer (may not be a good one :(), but nowadays I type and dont write. I remember that my handwriting had improved especially during my graduate days. My classmate had a brilliant handwriting which he said was 'SBOA handwriting'. Maybe I got inspired by him and my handwriting improved. I knew that my writing was always neat and organized - some of my classmates still remember that I used to draw lines in my class notes. With this improved handwriting, it made things better. I am sure that out of 4/5 100s that I scored in Mathematics papers in my graduation, atleast 2/3 didnt deserve it if not for my handwriting. I think that I was the first ever MCA ever to be recruited by Texas Instruments because the interviewer was impressed with me. Infact I think he was impressed with me because of how I wrote the programs that he asked for - Apart from the handwriting, I also embellished the presentation with comments - you dont expect students in interviews to display 'commenting' skills.

Since I started working with Texas Instruments, money was never a driving force. Infact, in all companies that I worked, I never asked for a higher pay in any company :o That may sound ridiculous especially as an Indian, but I felt that even my first ever salary in Texas Instruments was too high. I am sure no 'engineer' from a decent college would even look at that pay. My 'ideal' company was IBM or Intel or HP; I liked GE - maybe because of Welch to begin with and later Immelt - but didnt see how I could end up in GE but GE was the 'dream' for me. Big companies enamoured me. My reasoning was that big companies have become big not by chance but by sustained their dominance. To put in கௌரவம் dialogue, not enough if you stand, but stay. My sister used to talk about 'quotes' in campus interviews at her college, BITS, Pilani (I always thought those were one of those 'legends' developed in different places). One 'winning' quote from one student in an interview was - I want to be a big fish in a small pond rather than a small fish in a big pond. My opinion was always - I want to be a big fish in a big pond. Big companies like GE are the ones that come closest to PUBLIC organizations.

Bala wins National award.

There might be people who might have won the national award for their first film, but the case of Bala was different. It was just a question of when, rather than if. Though National awards in India are subject to political whims and bias, it is indeed painful that Naan Kadavul has not won more awards. I personally fancied for Pooja and Vaali as well. Pooja for her performance and Vaali for composing a Sanskrit song (I thought that will also 'touch' the Northies in the jury). After the announcement, Bala in his interview to TV channels did say that he personally fancied awards for Arthur Wilson, the cinematographer, Pooja and Arya and pleasantly surprised to get the award himself.

He has done just four films and has already built a lot of reputation. Even more surprising is that his films are expected to be 'off-beat' and not of the 'commercial masala' brand. I am not sure of expectations of Naan Kadavul but I went to Pithamahan with a big expectations and even more surprised to see it surpassed (normally expectations are belied ;)). I had not seen his earlier two films - 'Sethu', which almost everybody claim is a classic, giving a stunning life for the actor Vikram alias Kenny and 'Nanda', which gave a life for Surya, who was doing mediocre films at best. I felt that if not in Nanda, Pithamahan should have got Laila a national award and Ilayaraja for background score. Infact, even in Naan Kadavul, background score of Ilayaraja is simply exhilarating. The tempo of the film which is just near 2 hours of duration can be just sensed by the background score.

I had mentioned about Bala's opinion expressed to Jayamohan in my last post on public opinion of 'Aayirathil Oruvan'. Surprisingly, unlike 'public', media gave a very favorable opinion of 'Naan Kadavul', whether it is Hindu, Sify, Behindwoods. Of course, I liked what I saw and opined so. In my college days, I didnt like whatever little that I saw of Sethu and even later didnt venture into Nanda, though I heard good 'word-of-mouth' for the latter. Recently when I saw those movies, I could see that he has really churned out good products. I was also impressed on how he keeps the unit in good spirits. Even during 'Naan Kadavul', Pooja mentioned about the 'puzzles' that he used to ask - like Tamil palindrome. As a director, maybe he is ‘God’ of a different kind.

How does he rate ‘Naan Kadavul?’
“The best among my four films! You have to keep growing, right?”

RIGHT :)

What more can a creator do?

As expected, 'Aayirathil Oruvan' is facing lot of criticism that it is 'illogical', a slander on the 'holy' Chola dynasty etc. Tamils often tend to drool on anything 'foreign', forgetting if not forgiving any glitches but scathing on anything from home. It is no doubt frustrating for a director as was evident in 'Aayirathil Oruvan' team meet. Given the fact that the film starts with the disclaimer that it is fiction, how can a director answer if the film is belittling Cholas?

I had given a 'Visitor review' and one of the editorial board members had mailed me with her perspective, rather a woman's perspective on the film. There will be different perspectives in which a film is seen, but the criticisms or panning of the film are quite absurd, just like it was in 'Naan Kadavul'. Writer Jeyamohan had mentioned about Bala's take on criticisms

சினிமா கோடிக்கணக்கான பேரைச் சென்றடையும் ஓர் ஊடகம். அதைப்பார்ப்பவர்கள் பலவேறு மனநிலைகளில் அறிவுநிலைகளில் பண்பாட்டுச்சூழலில் வாழ்பவர்கள். அவர்கள் பல்லாயிரம் தரப்பை உருவாக்கிக் கொள்வார்கள். அவற்றை எல்லாம் எதிர்கொண்டு விவாதிக்க எழுத்தாளன் முயன்றான் என்றால் அவனால் வேறு எதையுமே செய்யமுடியாது.

Reg 'Aayirathil Oruvan', there was the same criticisms that Cholas or Tamils(?) are shown as barbarians. In 'Naan Kadavul', there was pre-release 'publicity' that the film has a climax of hero eating the heroine. In either film, nothing was shown explicitly and even if it was indeed alluded, I dont find anything wrong with that. In Aayirathil Oruvan, the events unfold in an imaginary island in South East Asia. It could easily be Jarawa (Andaman Islands), that is shown. To quote,

Along with other indigenous Andamanese peoples, they have inhabited the islands for at least several thousand years, and most likely a great deal longer. The Andaman Islands have been known to outsiders since antiquity;

Since 1998, they have been in increasing contact with the outside world and have increasingly been the choosers of such contact.

I also remember the article published in Hindu long back - Who speaks for the Jarawas?. Again to quote,

In 1997, a group of Jarawas made contact for the first time with the outside world. It was a move that triggered numerous problems for them and has left them teetering on the brink of extinction.

often they come out of their jungle homes to accept fruits and coconuts from visitors. Their white teeth gleaming against their dark skin, the children look like ebony carvings.

Inhabitants of the dense rain forests of the Andaman Islands, the Jarawas have been living for millennia as hunter-gatherers.

Infact, my regard for the director only goes up.

1 in 1000

Umberto Eco said 'Images are the literature of layman'. Books are often perceived as 'high art' because readers follow the vision of the writer more closely. The fact that reading a book needs far more patience than say seeing a movie, could be one reason. With a limited and probably more erudite audience, good reviews (not necessarily praises) and criticisms often come from responsible sources with a good background of the work in question.

It is not surprising especially in India that movies are subject to the easiest criticisms from most people. I do not see a good review of 'Aayirathil Oruvan' till date. The movie should be reviewed with the right perspective. Simplistic reviews of films like 'Pudhupettai' about Unadulterated violence! do not give any sensible perspective. A reviewer cannot talk for the audience. Reviewer(s) should try to look at different perspectives of the product. More importantly, reviewer(s) have to go with the director (actually the 'Creator') in his product to first comprehend what he has made. At the end of the journey, they are in a position to comment on the journey and future ramifications, if any.

With this perspective, I went into a journey, that is 1 in 1000. I had seen the trailer. Aayirathil Oruvan is probably the first attempt in Indian cinema at a genre of fantasy and it would not be wise to compare with any non-Indian film or even non-Tamil films. Any review of this movie has to start with this perspective. Most films are pseudo-fiction because the viewers are either expected to know or assuming some 'truths' as given for the film. For instance, if one 'character' talks about going from Chennai to New York in a bus, it is treated as a flaw. It ideally should not be because it is fiction. If 'truth's have such a value, morals do not come into 'picture'.

In this film, the director has chosen fantasy as the genre and for the journey of fantasy, he has taken a simple story. There are three principal characters, a manager, a scholar and a worker. A manager has taken up a project with a 'public' motive - to search one person (who is that?) and takes the help of scholar and lot of workers. A scholar has a 'protected' motive of searching for her missing parent. A worker leads his comrades for just earning his bread. The manager is ruthless and non-compromising in her goal. The scholar unravels the mystery and worker comes out of his shell to show his human side. The project has many downsides with worker shocked by the loss of colleagues and even wants to call it quits. The scholar is eager on the pursuit of knowledge. Most importantly, the manager is on the pursuit of self-interests. The worker has to follow suit and personal attraction to the humane scholar is an extra attraction.

The manager does whatever is needed to achieve her personal goal, whether it is seducing the workers or even the final 'person' in question. The scholar is able to reasonably predict the threats to come - snakes, hunger, thirst and even madness. The final man or the king or the client is aghast that the manager has duped him. He contemplates suicide but wants to give a final shot at the client(s). He dies in the process but the worker escapes with the next generation. It is not really known if the director wanted to give messages in the 'story' for the journey. History repeats itself and no matter how educated we are, the likes of manager have indelible 'hates' and would do ANYTHING to venture out to eradicate the same.

Well, almost!

My comment is that it is a splendid journey that director embarked upon and should not nit-picked for chaste 'Tamil' or minor dubbing errors, for dialogues are not too many. Reg blood or gore, the film is anyway certified 'A' and if people come with their family (thats what I saw in the theatre), I cant blame the director.