Khan Saheb Kamal Haasan's Jamaat/Jeba Koottam/Devasthaanam - Part 8

[Movie Cop]

Sorry-nga, didn't expect this will turn into a Kamal vs. Vijayakumar discussion.

[kid-glove]

Hey Cob, enna chippu?

[hattori_hanzo]

As far as Kamal is concerned, Mahendran has never directed him. KB is rejected-nga.

In most of the 70's movies that Kamal & Rajini acted together under KB, KB treated Rajini as a shiny object - providing him meaty roles to fully leverage his cigaratte flipping, over the top mannerisms, hurried dialgue delevery etc. OTOH, Kamal, who is more of a subtler actor, was given roles that the likes of Sivakumar, Vijayakumar or that other guy (Jaiganes?) could have done. Those roles doesn't really need an actor of Kamal's calibre. Alos, another problem during the 70’s was that most of the directors viewed Kamal just a lover boy because of his handsome looks and exceptional dancing skills.

Only when KB started directing Kamal as a solo hero he "tried" to leverage Haasar's histrionic skills.

+1. Idhaye dhaan oru maasam munnaadi SS threadla naan sonnen.

I hate Ninaithaale Inikkum mainly for the gross injustice done to Kamal's character by his Guru. For that matter(except Avargal, to an extent) KH never got to play a really strong character in any of those KH-RK-KB combo movies. NI, Moondru Mudichu, Apoorva Ragangal - Ellaathulayum the same lover-boy with nothing else to do. If you remove RK from this, you have memorable characters like in Nizhal Nijamagiradhu, Punnagai Mannan, Varumaiyin Niram Sivappu. BR should have brought these two together again

Grouch, in Moondru Mudichu, what Kamal did was an extended cameo. It was a Rajini-Sridevi show all the way. KB was probably fascinated by his new finding that he made a movie just to showcase Rajini's mannerisms and villainy. Though Kamal was not a star, KB could have gone for a lesser actor to play that role. I still remember asking my brother innocently "Andha scene'kkapparam Kamal varave maattaara?"

AR was slightly better. But again in a movie based on family & complex relationships, he had to share screenspace with the supporting characters. Baring few angry outbursts, onnum perusa illa. Avargal on the other hand was a movie which largely benefited by Kamal's acting. But here too KB did not want to give anything ordinary to Rajini. Did he?

NI - mannikkave mudiyaadha kutram. A director who went out the way to write such an entertaining comedy track could have done something better to make KH & Jayapradha's characters interesting. Nagesh in MT/NT movies? Maybe, but do you think Kamal's character in NI was half as good as MT's or NT's? A Gemini Ganesan-Nagesh or Karthik-Goundernu sollalaam. Balancing ange dhaan konjam odhaikkudhu.

Thappu Thalangal naan innum paakkala. But unfortunately, I didn't find even the last-scene cameo in Thillu Mullu interesting, when compared to the rest of the movie. If you compare these movies with Nizhal Nijamaagiradhu, which was released almost during the same time, you would see the difference.

[venkkiram]

MovieCop, do u think kamal role in Avargal can be executed by Sivakumar, Vijayakumars and co? Aval appadithan by Ruthraiyya and 16 vayathinile by BR brought top notching performances from both the actors.

[tamizharasan]

I think 16 vayathinile chappani character can be easily handled by vijayakumar and that too without any significant make up. I think even vijayakumar will agree with what i said.

[hattori_hanzo]

Avargal - I agree. The character was unique and KH was brilliant. Cant imagine anyone else playing the role. Aval Appadithaan - ennadhaan KH nalla nadichirundhaalum, andha characterla andha oru 'idhu' illa. All the best lines went to RK and he stole every scene from KH.

[sakaLAKALAKAlaa Vallavar]

I guess KB understood this and did a balance by launching Kamal big in Hindi? EDKJ was a bigger blockbuster no? Same about marocharitra.

But again, its mostly lover boy thaan!

[kid-glove]

Steal panni vechukkattumE. Point is that in these earlier roles, KH was effortlessly playing real characters. And it never felt like these characters were 'forced' in any way. Maybe they seemed a bit one or two dimensional (but so are most characters in KB caper), Rajini included. In fact, I find some of above mentioned KB films overbearing except for KH.

[tamizharasan]

Avargal - I agree. The character was unique and KH was brilliant. Cant imagine anyone else playing the role. Aval Appadithaan - ennadhaan KH nalla nadichirundhaalum, andha characterla andha oru 'idhu' illa. All the best lines went to RK and he stole every scene from KH.

The characters are totally different. Each justified their respective characters and where does the stealing come here. It looks like we are attached to the character itself than performance.

[kid-glove]

As for cigarette flipping, zanny dialogues and other stuff, idhellam terribly contrived in KB universe. I thank heavens that KH didn't get those.

Even in AA, the scene where Rajini is mobile and tries every other way to get attention from lighting his cigarette to various other poses, KH's relaxed demeanour seated through out is more up my alley. Look at his eyes and facial gestures there. For similar reasons, I prefer De Niro to Pacino in Heat.