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

[kid-glove]

I've stopped writing (and reading) long write-up's, Copper. So maybe someone else will.

[OnMyWay]

on kamal vs lal

Somewhere kamals actings to me seems practised perfection where Lal is more natural.
Not so simplistic as to say that one is better than the other ..
Lal doesnt seem to try so hard to look/act very different.
Sometime you can feel its Lal acting but not the character but the way he acts those little expressions
is magic. He has an inbuilt appeal ,his acting is not laboured and the subtle changes are so appealing.

Mohanlal is a master of creating something where none exist..
In T.P.Balagopalan M.A ,mohalal has a scene where the money he saved dearly is spent by his sister for
her husband. His reaction in that scene where he shows his helplessness yet moves on after a moment
is magic.


Also watch his reaction in chota mubmai where the gal who rejected his proposal asks him later if he felt bad back when she did so.
His reaction to him as a happy go lucky guy is amazing..


There was nothing in the script for those scenes but he just lifts them with his acting which
comes out of nowhere. There are so many of them.

Also in ravanaprabhu as a oldman leaving his house ,he reminices all the good moments,
just his voice modulation without even looking at his acting is wow.

He is a master of voice modulation ,especially when he plays comedic and mature/older characters.
Very good when he plays a traditional malayalee like classical singer , feudal lord or sathyan
athnikad type middle class roles.

Lal has limitations where his body language changes dont seem to change as much as Kamal.
Kamal seems to do that stuff very well, his whole body language changes so much.
Lal has a very expressive face but doesnt seem to try as hard as Kamal to master all the elements
of a character potrayal like Kamal using everything around him to help him ,even the props.


In Malayalam , in most intense emotional Author backed roles like Amaram , mommooka seems to get it better.
Most middle class man with changes which unfold throughout the movie or the character grows
Lal is the best.
In that sense I feel Kamal's best roles are comparable to Mamooka's best

[hattori_hanzo]

Usually Rajini has got this action-hero image about him, which I think is disproportionate. Rajini does a lot of 'cool' gimmicks but just pure stunt choreography he is nowhere near Kamal.

There is not enough appreciation of that.

Latter day 'concept' based fights are (rightly) remembered: the blade-fight in Nammavar, Thevar magan silambam, toilet fight in MMKR (French fencer post ) ..why even the umbrella fight in Anbe Sivam (which is not that good IMO).

But you really need to see the 80s films to see how much better he is. He generally has longer sequences without cuts. He takes lesser help from quick-cut-editing (not that that's a bad thing, but you kinda feel the overall punch is not there - early 90s Vijayakanth fights vs. post 2000 which is pretty much all gimmicks).

You can see Kamal channeling a lot of martial arts aesthetics. Some of them can't even be attributed to stuntmasters. For instance in the fight right after singAri sarakku in kAkki chattai : Kamal punches a guy, while he gasps for breath, a tired Kamal wipes his face, and then punches him again

And it would appear all in one quick flow. indha maadhiri paRpala chinna chinna vishayangaL.

Very Very True

[irir123]

there is another fight/stunt sequence in 'antha oru nimidam' where Kamal uses a gymnast's props for the stunt! remember either vikatan or kumudham mentioning/appreciating the same in their review of the film!

maybe SKV or someone can get hold of that youtube sequence and post it here!

and Rajini, despite his height, never gave an impression of someone in great shape, even when he played a cop!

have heard of Kamal's dedication to weight training/running etc

any inputs on what Rajini used to do (besides the kerala ayurveda stuff ?)

[venkkiram]

Lal and Rajini have a common skill "nakaichuvai" in their natural mode. Kamal on the other side creates a suitable funny character. Eg. Dr sunny in Manichitrathaazh. The way he mingles with family members(especially with that boy "gindi gindi" dialogue) of suresh gopi. I cant think about even a single film where kamal performs like that.

[app_engine]

It would be great if someone...can write on Lal's contribution as an actor during that phase...

oru chinna sample (one of my most fav songs in IFM, director Sathyan Anthikkad / MD Shyam) :

[Bala (Karthik)]

Kid
Jack Nicholson? Understated-a? Isn't he on the other side?

Venki
Kama's humor cannot be boxed into just one dimension. He has already done so many kinds with varied characterizations when it comes to humor. Neenga solra natural skill 'laam interviews and off the record conversation la irukkum. Others do it movies (single dimension)

[Bala (Karthik)]

Overt Chaplinism, subtle understated Chaplinism (Pushpak) for starters, is in itself quite a feat. The difference is in the latter, it is not an I'm going to be funny and make you laugh- it is as real as it gets. Toilet queue scene ellam vera level-nga

The various implementations of the genuine innocence template 'laam head and shoulders above everyone before and since IMHO. Sathi Leelavathi is the pinnacle. Unmatched

[Bala (Karthik)]

The greatest tragedy is that when it comes to humor, there is a distorted perception that Thala owes it all to Crazy Mogan. My begind!

[Bala (Karthik)]

Can I make a humble request to the mods?
Periyvangala pathi pesitrukkumbodhu dhayavu seidhu MGR (illaadha) aatral-a eduthuraikkaren nu yaarum kelambapdaadhu. Manasu valikkudhu, transformer vedikkidhu, aludhuruven, aludhuruven!!