aahaa :lol:
Raajjaa and Nerd - MGR came from an era where he was the sole dictator when it came to how he acted, how the screenplay shaped up, lyrics were designed for songs etc etc - he never had to be 'trained' under the watchful eyes of someone like KB ! he might have been ambitious as a commercially viable star, but thats abt it - i doubt if he had, at any point of time any serious intent/desire to push the envelope on the creative front - I would say that MGR designed/fashioned a major part of his entire career with the sole purpose of gaining foothold in politics and moving further on - but he did have an eye for talent around him - talent that not only could he exploit for his personal benefit (MSV-Kannadasan etc etc), he also had the same eye to recognize talent around him even when not of use to him - his accounts of openly narrating to Kamal abt how NT was a better actor and how he rated Kamal himself, are testimony to this
Rajini (and Kamal) should rightfully owe their acting training to KB - though Kamal also benefitted from his interactions with mallu land - am not privvy to his acting in mallu films but am sure they wud be far more understated than his acting in tamil films around the same time - Kamal is a natural in soaking up things, and made sure he kept his creative 'fire' stoked past 1990s - Rajini settled for the low-hanging fruit post-thalapathi and I would say even his pre-thalapathy films were all not equally impressive - he even admits the same in that KB interview as well as some TV channel post-Enthiran where he says he is not interested in anything artistic, only commercial gains interest him - 'namakku award aa mukkiyam ? reward thaan mukkiyam' - once someone had reached that stage of compromise, there is no way, any creative instincts can be kindled / nurtured ! maybe age did it to him, i donno!
my personal take: i used to love Rajini films as a kid (there is a hint there as to how/why he is successful - kids even now love his films - maybe he comes across as a larger screen version of those characters from TV aka Shakthiman, Giant robot etc!)- but past my 11 years, got tired of his gimmickry! even Kamal, if he did something in a film that reminded me of what he did earlier, it will bring an involuntary 'salippu' feeling! thats where he saved himself as a writer/'ghost'-director (though when I later came to know he has liberally suttufied from hollywood, that became a dampener).
Raajjaa - am not sure if you know this Rajini film from the late 1980s - forgot the name - Rajini gets shot and moves into a temple in a jungle, takes out the bullet with the tirusoolam (!!!), somewhere gets hold of a whisky bottle (whisky in a temple!), pours it over the wound burns it up, gives a few taps on the burnt part and walks away in style! the sheer audacity of the sequence left me gasping breathless! and then i laughed - 'you gotta be kidding - did i really see that happening ?' - but the point is people loved it and I see nothing wrong in Rajini riding on such an adulation ppl have for him !
மலையாள மொழி மற்றும் மலையாளிகளுக்கென்று ஒரு உடல் மொழி உண்டு ..மலையாள மொழி பேசும் போது பேசும் வார்த்தைகளுக்கேற்ப கைகளும் பேசும் .. "செய்யாம் பற்றில்லா" -ன்னு சொல்லும் போது இரண்டு கைகளை சேர்த்து விலக்கி விரிப்பது ஒரு உதாரணம் .. மம்மூட்டியிடம் இதை கொஞ்சம் அதீதமாகவே இதை பார்க்கலாம் ..மோகன்லால் இதை கொஞ்சம் மட்டுப்படுத்தி செய்வார் ..என்றாலும் செய்யாமல் இருக்க மாட்டார் .. ஒரு பக்கம் சரிந்தார் போல நடை , தலையை சற்று சரித்தே பேசுவது ..வேட்டி,லுங்கி போன்ற பாரம்பரிய உடைகளோடு கன கச்சிதமான இயல்பு உடல் மொழியில் பார்ப்பதற்கு நடிப்பு என்பதை மறந்து உண்மையான ஒரு மலையாளியை கண்முன் நிறுத்துவது தான் மோகன்லாலிம் பலம் .ஆனால் பலவீனமும் அது தான் .. இந்த மலையாளி உடல்மொழிக்கு வெளியே வந்து மோகன்லால் பரிமளிப்பது சற்று சவாலானது ..தமிழில் நடித்தாலும் , இந்தியில் நடித்தாலும் அது ஒரு மலையாளியின் உடல் மொழியை தான் நினைவுபடுத்தும் ..ஒரு குறிப்பிட்ட வட்டத்துக்குள் அட்சர சுத்தமாக நடிக்க முடியும் லாலுக்கு .. ஆனால் கமல் அப்படியெல்ல ...சகல செப்படி வித்தைகளும் அத்துப்படி .. இளமை துள்ளும் காதல் இளைஞனாக கமல் பரிமளிக்கும் அளவுக்கு லாலால் முடியாது . இது போல நிறைய சொல்லலாம் ..லாலுக்கென்று ஒரு வட்டம் உண்டு ..அதில் அவர் ராஜா .. கமல் வட்டத்துக்குள் சிக்காத வல்லூறு.
Thanks dude :)
On a digressive note, I've heard 80's (and may be early 90's) is the golden age of Malayalam cinema. It would be great if someone who has followed Malayalam cinema closely can write on Lal's contribution as an actor during that phase...
thanks again, kg for you perspective on Lal vis-a-vis Kamal.
Movie_Cop
Don't ever underestimate Lal-ettan. He is one heck of an actor and truly world class. The interest and committment to Cinema is the only thing that differentiate Lal-ettan from Kamal. Sometime we get attached to our favorite too much and become blind about other talents.
TA, where did you get the impression that I underrated Lal? :confused2: I juts requested for some nice write up on Lal to read. :)