Pongal 2016

[faithiu11]

Kathakali...good.... romance and comedy portions test one's patience in first half...second half is terrific...vishal at his best..pandiraj proved he can pull off decent action movie as well...

[bimmer]

Thara Thapattai...What a Waste, Never Knew Varalakshmi could act this well. Sasikumar has the same emotions throughout the Movie. Bala falls flat again this time, time to redeem himself. Overdose of unnecessary violence

[mappi]

Tharai Thappattai [2016 : Tamil : Genre - Bala/IR : 2h15m]
a film by Bala

Music : Illaiyaraja [Credited for 1000th film]
Cinematography : Chezhiyan
Editing : G. Sasikumar
Banner : B Studio

Starring : Varalakshmi, Sasikumar, R.K. Suresh, G.M. Kumar & others

Tharai Thappattai is not only an outstanding movie, is also an exceptional film.

Bala upgrades himself in multiple levels to narrate us a story about a soft Sannasi, a saint, transforming into a super Sooravali, a whirlpool. Going by the philosophy that mankind is indeed an animal race, Bala this time in his film Tharai Thappattai induces emotions to smoke out the animal inside the human and provoke humane out of the animal. It is a convoluted structure, and gets more complicated when the malevolent Karuppaiah (potrayed by R.K. Suresh) occupies the role of creation itself along the chain. To slay the ill-natured, the saint has to turn malicious. Vakram Vatham kodurama thaan irrukum => Soora Samharam.

Sooravali (played wonderfully by Varalaxmi) is a ram. She does not mind or care about anything else except her man Sannasi(enacted beautifully by Sasikumar). Without a second thought she digs out her fury by locking horns with anyone for him. That's the best way she expresses her immense love towards Sannasi. On the other hand, Sannasi is a goat. He has a lot of responsibilities - the traditional art on one shoulder and the group of families attached to him for living on the other. As the leader of the pack, he is a burdened man with thoughts of accuring the basic needs admist the opposition from his rebelion father Samipulavan(G.M Kumar).

Sooravali's horns are broken by the wicked words of Sannasi himself. She is sent to the butcher. Amoung the other fearful humans, Sooravali moves from cheerful light into the obvilion (a spectacular shot, also present in the end of the trailer depicting the state of Sooravali). She is just a meat now, the shock had taken away all the fury inside her. Sannasi faces what his father faced years ago. His art, a rural musical dance from the roots of Tamil Culture, has taken a new steep and gone to the lowest of levels. Dejected for not able to provide work and food for his band members, Sannasi slowly starts to lose control. His decesion of removing the axis, Sooravali, from the troop turns out devastating personally & profesionally. He verbally confronts his backbitting father. To make things worse, he gets slaped with the news about Sooravali. The loss of activity and other affectionate ones surrounding him, add few more heftiness. He breaks down completely turning into a emotional strom to try and save Sooravali.

The film is a parallelogram, slightly bent with the events occuring in the first half colliding into those unfolding during the second half. Suprisingly the events occur in a somewhat similar chronological order. Some exemples :

1st half - 2nd Half

The crew gets a chance to perform in Andaman - The crew is broken that they accept to perform at a death funeral.
Sooravali proves her love to Sannasi - Samipulavan proves himself to Sannasi.
Sooravali sits and laughs during most outrageous suituation - Sooravali completely stops moving even her lips.
During 1st meeting Sannasi trashes Karuppaiah - During 2nd meeting Karuppaiah tears apart Sannasi.
Karuppaiah intro followed by intermission - Karuppaiah re-entry marching towards the Climax.

[If anyone is prepared to look at it, be assured that you are going to find much more]

One of the best narrative comes in the form of a song - Aarambam Aavadhu Pennukkullae. [The original song is from Thangap Padhumai (1959) performed by Padmini & Sivaji Ganesan for the compistion by M.S. Viswanathan & T.K. Ramamurthy to the lyrics of Pattukkottai Kalyanasundaram directed by A.S.A. Samy]. In Tharai Thappattai, the song looks like a moarning during an antyesti, but actually its Sannasi who is repenting and narrating his own agonized tale. Its a conversation with his subconsious talking in a female voice, symbolically Sooravali questioning him. Repenting he says :

Thavarukkum Thavaraana Thavarai Purinthu Vittu, Thanipattu Ponavan Gnana Penne
Pathari Pathari Nindru Kathari Pulambinaalum, Payanpattu Varuvaano Gnana Penne

Likewise each word and line in this song point to the actual suituation and condition of Sannasi (directly or indirectly). Yet another Bala's outstanding musical selection.

The camera works are wonderful. The semi-arc shots were completely mesmerising - it's not a full circle around the circle, but it covers only half and returns back to cover the other side. A kind of 'Kavadi Attam' with the camera. Similarly the way the songs are shot gives an impression of a 'thud' passed on by the vigourous dancers on screen to reality. The editing follows the abstract cuts called by Bala, his unique trade mark that shows maturity (not by age, but strictly film-making) & planning. Tharai Thappattai can really be funny when the best skill of Bala, which is comedy, sprinkled all over the film even during the climax. A group of people taking the ship to Andaman watching Titantic movie on board. Or miraculous songs as bits or ringtones - Kuyula Pudichi Koondil Adachi, type of suituations. Actor Sasikumar outshines as Sannasi. Rolling eyes, dropped shoulders, rejective walks, projection of emotions be it while parenting or gaurding Sooravali - all the character needs were well understood, established and enacted. His performence during the intro song with Nadaswaram and with the native drums during the funeral ceremony were high in energy. Varalakshmi blends well as Sooravali. She owns the first half, but does not have much to showcase during the second half. Bala played well by not extending the melodrama when it was already pointed out that she is a corspe somewhere in the midway of the story itself. G.M. Kumar carries forward his Highness role and passes his time drinking and cursing but gets a stunning song sequence which he engulfs. Other tiny roles are typical Bala handmade, so they come with appreication tags. As the character name goes, R.K.Suresh is a black gold. Menancing & cold he shows no remorse.

For about 30 minutes into the film, Illayaraja, the music/songs composer for the film Tharai Thappattai plays mildly along. BGM for title cards, a Thavil solo, Hero Intro theme with Nadaswaram and moves to play a relaxed music, just like 'the Horses at Ganja Hills' sequence in Pithamagan, when the troop goes to Andaman, followed by an opening song and a musical-dance solo. Soon after this street performence, Sooravali falls down and demands her colleagues to do the needful. In the next few seconds the screen turns blurry. No problem at all with the theatre setup. Liquid had quoted in front of the eyes as the ears had just tasted the opening of Maanikkavaasagar Thiruvasagam 'Paaruruvaaya' that it drolled through the eyes. From here the battle between Bala vs Illayaraja begins. During the yet another windy Bala movie climax, when Sannasi is introduced as Sooravali, the battle between Bala & Illayaraja intensifies. The song "Idarinum" begins with a lot of noises. Slowly as the song sinks in, the noises fade away. Hats off & thanks to Bala.

Bala makes films on throw-away society. With his extrodinary observation skill, hardly anything goes unnoticed. His films begins & stay at the last level where the character do have a shelter and food but have to struggle to keep what they own and try hard not to be buried further. The upper hands have sophisticated lives and care a bit about anything else. Bala's movies always showcase a materialistic struggle in a consumption oriented society - a group struggling for money and another group exploting their actual state. It could be considered as the ugly part of a soceity which many don't want to see or hear. Closing the eyes shuts only the vision, not reality.

Usually 'a bala film' ends with the character running away from the screen towards a sunset or vastness. Suprisingly Tharai Thappattai sees Sannasi rushing towards the screen with an infant in his hand. Hope prevails. Bala wins.

Tharai Thappattai - Beats of the Hearts

[NOV]

Box office collection of Pongal releases this year: Siva Karthikeyan's Rajini Murugan tops the charts

There were four outings on January 14 this year: Rajini Murugan, Thara Thappattai, Gethu and Kathakali, and it was the Siva Karthikeyan-starrer Rajini Murugan that turned out to be the winner at the box office.

Rajini Murugan:
A report published in International Business Times revealed the box office collection of Rajini Murugan and claimed that the film has topped the box office charts during the Pongal week. The film has earned about Rs 19.25 crore in its first four days, according to the report.

Ponram, who has directed Siva Karthikeyan's Varuthapadatha Vaalibar Sangam, has again employed the same commercial formula to deliver another hit. Rajini Murugan, an out-and-out commercial entertainer, has pulled a lot of family audience to the theatres, and it has been the key to the commercial success of the comedy drama.
The success of the film has yet again proven the growing stardom of Siva Karthikeyan. From Manam Kothi Paravai to Rajini Murugan, the actor has been consistently successful at the box office. His last film Kaaki Sattai was among the superhits of 2015.

Kathakali:
Film trade analyst Sreedhar Pillai, in an article published in Firstpost, has claimed that Vishal-starrer Kathakali is the second best performer among the festival releases. Backed by good reviews from the critics, the whodunnit has had a decent opening day collection. The film has all the elements of a typical entertainer, but due to lack of theatres, the film wasn't able to live up to its potential.

Tharai Thappatai:
Bala's film opened to a good start, but failed to keep up the pace. The film, which deals with the dying art of Karakattam (a dance form), has failed to live up to the expectations. It is also said that the abundance of violence in the film is also another reason the film has failed at the ticket counters.

Gethu:
Udhayanidhi's Gethu has also had a decent run at the box office. A report published in Behindwoods claimed that the film has collected about Rs 63 lakhs (in Chennai alone) in its first week.

[mappi]

Rajini Murugan

Couple of weeks back I watched a Korean film "Enemies In-Law" (Part 2). Being a bit tired from my choice of films - thrillers, mystries, action, violence & gore - I wanted to watch a cool film. Thought the Korean film makers could have a film in store as they make excellent Comedies (too). "Enemies In-Law" (Part 2) does not have a detailed story but just a small portion of the daily social events cut and narrated as an hillarious tale. Similarly there are French Comedies like Intouchables, Bienvenue chez les ch'tis, Supercondriaque, Qu'est-ce qu'on a fait au Bon Dieu?, etc., or even Teen Films like Babysitting, have almost the same thing in common - the narration is just a piece from daily life style.

In a similar manner, Rajini Murugan tries to elaborate an youngman's perseverance to marry his 'child-hood made for each-other' family friend. No suspense, nothing mysterious or urging to see through the scene after scene, but just an humouristic Drama that revolves around wonderful native characters.

Rajini Murugan must make a living. For that he needs money. With that he can prove to Karthika's father his capabilities and in return gain Karthika as his life partner. His grandpa comes to his aid by willing to sell their hereditary & pretigious house. But trouble comes in the form of a local goon who is interested in money. No one gets wounded but goes back to their formal lives with what they profited from each others meeting. The End.

Rajini Murugan is a colorful film in rural set up. The purity is quite intact inside the movie and drives as an huge motivational factor to enjoy the happening with the awesome characters that tickle. Hats off Ponram. Watching Siva Karthikeyan has become more of a fun now. He is cool and very spontaneous. The timid actor from 'Manam Kothi Paravai' gaining confidence and sparkiling just in his 8th film shows his understanding towards the art and the growth he has scheduled to himself. Quite a cultivated hero. The scene where he stops the Kalai was quite well made, well, I liked it a lot. D Imman should visit theatres before the energy fades down. During "Enna Ma Ippadi Panringaley Ma" song sequence, the reaction from the crowd is the best award he could ever get. Samuthirakani & Raj Kiran were hillarious too. All the villagers / Poojaries / Relatives / Talkers, etc., wonderful casting and amazing performences. I liked the most is their accents.

Rajini Murugan works all its way well until the end and a movie that can be watched under any weather condition with anyone around, a film that will put the same smile on the face each time, everytime.

Rajini Murugan - A Comedy Company

[vidyasakaran]

Mappi, thanks for the write up on TT. 👍

[NOV]

After having watched all Pongal releases here, my conclusion is as follows:

1. Kathakali
A slow start but once the suspense sets in, it becomes very intriguing. Last 10 mins has about as many twists and you end up a little disappointed.

2. Rajni Murugan
Typical Sivakarthieyan fare, nothing more nothing less.

3. Gethu
Was expecting a comedy like his earlier movies. Ended up a bore. I liked Vikranth the most. Haha.

[mexicomeat]

kathakali - the last 10 minutes is more a "why done it" (why did you do end the movie like this ) instead of a "who done it".

watched kathakali, tharai thappatai and rajni murugan - gethu parkarathukku thembu ille.

[NOV]

Tharai Thappattai did not release here. 😡

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[A.ANAND]

Rajini murugan - timepass movie, athey V.P.V.S effect-tu

+ Samutrakani and d.imman