Comparisons of Jai Bhim and Etharkkum Thunindhavan

Comparisons of Jai Bhim and Etharkkum Thunindhavan

Suriya is an amazing actor who strikes a balance between Parallel and Masala Films. He is also labelled as Kollywood's Mr Perfectionist.

Jai Bhim and Etharkkum Thunindhavan are movies that featured him in the Lawyer's garb. They are Message Movies but there are actually some differences between the films in respect to the social message and the approach. They are based on real incidents.

Jai Bhim is about Chandru an advocate who fights for tribal rights. He represents Ambedkar's Ideologies of Education, Organisation and Agitation. He handles the case of Sengenni and Rajakannu. He approaches the problem via Non-violence and Peaceful dialogues. He only uses his brain. This movie conveyed the message in a realistic way. 

Etharkkum Thunindhavan is about Kannabhiran, an advocate at Madras High Court who fights for women empowerment. He is different from Chandru as Kanna uses Brain as well as Brawn. He resolves situations via punches, kicks and fights. This movie conveyed the message in a masala formulaic way which involves romance, comedy, action and melodrama. When I saw both the films in Amazon and Netflix, I could understand the difference.

Jai Bhim is made in a realistic way and depicts Suriya as a nonviolent advocate. Etharkkum Thunindhavan is based on the Pollachi Rape Episode and also it is on the same lines of Shaji Kailas's Chintamani Kola Case which starred Firebrand Superstar Suresh Gopi. Both the characters of Lal Krishna Viradiyar and Kannabhiran believe in one saying that when a lawyer steps into court, he just believes in dialogue but when he steps out, he is the Judge, Jury and Executioner.

I think it is high time to create a healthy balance between content based movies and Masala based star worshipping movies. 

SS Rajamouli - A Cinematic Storyteller

SS Rajamouli - A Cinematic Storyteller

October 10th 1973, Raichur, Karnataka, a family of Filmmakers discovered happiness in form of a little boy who was born to KV Vijayendra Prasad. The little boy was named SS Rajamouli.

KV Vijayendra Prasad directed a movie named Aradhangi which was termed as a disaster and thus the people had to find work to help the family. Rajamouli's Cousin MM Keeravani worked as an assistant to music composers and would later become a legend.

Rajamouli worked as a protégé for Kovelamudi Raghavendra Rao who was already an esteemed director. He went to direct ads for Telugu Desam Party and worked in serials. He would later be called as Rakshasudu and Jakkana.

His debut as a full fledged filmmaker was Student no. 1 that marked the full fledged arrival of Ntr Jr. That movie was a hit. He then planned a fantasy movie with Rao's son K. Surya Prakash Rao but the failure of his debut project resulted in the movie getting shelved.

He finally got a breakthrough with Simhadri and the movie won a lot of love from Ntr Jr's fans. It also saw him collaborate with his father. This movie was his first and only movie to cater to the masses. He then decided to make a movie on Rugby named Sye that had Nithin Reddy. The movie introduced KK Senthil Kumar as a cinematographer. 

He directed Chatrapathi that starred Prabhas in the lead role as a hero. His next movie was Vikramarkudu that had Mass Maharaja Ravi Teja and Anushka Shetty. He later directed Yamadonga which marked his 3rd film with Jr Ntr. This film also starred Collection King Mohan Babu.

His next project was a reincarnation subject named Magadheera that gave Ram Charan Teja a breakthrough. That project was about a prince and a princess who are killed only to reincarnate 400 years later as a stuntman and college student. He then went for a light hearted comedy named Maryada Ramana that starred Sunil in the lead role.

His next movie was Eega that was on the same theme but this time it was how a human killed by a villain reincarnates as a fly for revenge. The movie was a bilingual that introduced Rajamouli to Kollywood. 

He then went Pan Indian with an epic franchise named Baahubali which spoke of a son who seeks to regain his throne and avenge his father's death. This movie boasted of big stars like Prabhas, Rana Daggubati, Anushka Shetty and Tammanah. He then later directed a historic action drama named RRR which starred Jr Ntr and Ram Charan together. That movie grossed over 1000 crore rupees. It revolved around an imaginary friendship between Alluri Seetharama Raju and Komaram Bheem

SS Rajamouli is one such Storyteller whose passion for History made him well known. He is called Jakkana because of his extreme perfectionism and has a sense of humor. We became die hard fans of his work. Rajamouli Garu, You are one of the GOAT Filmmakers and we are extremely grateful to listen to your stories. 

My take on Tamil Cinema

My take on Tamil Cinema

Tamil Cinema has had its inception since 1918. The movies that came in its initial years were all about Mythology and Gods. In the late 1940s to 1950s, Tamil cinema witnessed a dimension as the movies were well credited with bringing up Dravidian Ideologies. One such movie named Parasakthi saw the arrival of 3 people: Sivaji Ganesan, Karunanidhi and SS Rajendran. The movie industry was dominated by The triumvate of actors like  Sivaji, MGR and Gemini Ganesan. Sivaji experimented in Drama Roles, MGR became the darling of the masses while Gemini Ganesan was the romantic boy. 

In the 1960s, New People came to Cinema like K Balachander, C.V Shridar and A. Bhimsingh.  KB was credited with bringing comedian Nagesh to superstardom. The movies were also mythological and also had whodunit movies that came ever since Andha Naal. 1970s marked the time when MGR was on a break and quit acting to become a politician. The times also saw the arrival of Fresh Faces like Kamal Hassan and Rajnikanth. In the late 70s, Kollywood witnessed a revolution of Realism with Balu Mahendra, Mahendran and Bharatiraja. In the 80s period, when Rajni and Kamal were domineering the screen with Sivaji taking on more supportive roles, New people came there to change the industry like Mani Ratnam. He also gave breakthroughs to star kids like Prabhu Ganesan amd Karthik Muthuraman, while new actors like Sarath Kumar and Vijaykanth came and took the screen by storm.

90s witnessed Freshers who came and dominated the frame and continue to this day like Ajith Kumar, Vijay, Suriya and Vikram. They started out as romantic heroes and later turned into mass heroes. Suresh Krissna's Baasha gave Rajni a demigod status. AR Rahman and Deva also debuted with new songs.

The New Millenium saw new actors and technicians like Dhanush, Arun Kumar aka Arun Vijay, Sivakarthikeyan, Vijay Sethupathi etc. Technicians in Music Department dominated the world like Yuvan Shankar Raja, Harris Jayaraj in the 2000s. New musicians came with Santhosh Narayanan, Anirudh Ravichander, D. Imman, Dhibu Ninan Thomas. The new wave came in 2008 with Mysskin and also it even continues to this day.

In my opinion, Tamil Cinema is actually on 2 paths. Only one person could choose which path to take. According to Robert Frost's poem The Road not taken, one character has to choose which road should he take, the frequently travelled path or the less travelled path. Honestly Tamil Cinema is in a poetic situation like this poem as the frequently travelled path boasts of Masala Entertainers and Star Worshipping Vehicles while the less travelled path focuses on Content based scripts and new wave realistic cinema. It has had such an unequal balance. As a Cinematic analyst, I hope to see a balance take place in a right quantity in order to make Tamil Cinema reach global heights that we already knew via Soorarai Pottru and Jai Bheem.

Charlie Chaplin - A Comedian who brought a new definition to slapstick comedy

Charlie Chaplin - A Comedian who brought a new definition to slapstick comedy

A Day without Laughter is a Day wasted. This quote defines that Life is totally mundane without a single dose of comedy. When we say this kind of a quote, we often get to remember this legend Charlie Chaplin.

Charles Spencer Chaplin aka Charlie Chaplin was born on April 16th 1889 to a music hall couple. He had a hard childhood as his father was an alcoholic and his mother was ill. When his mother was ill, Charlie who was just 5 took over and delivered a performance. This act changed him. He later grew up and joined a British Comedy Group started by Fred Karno who was well known for his Pie in the Face gag. He also worked with his understudy Stan Laurel who later became famous as the thin man of Laurel & Hardy.

He came to the US and soon found work at Mack Schnett Studios. His debut as an actor in Cinema was Making A Living. He put up a costume consisting of baggy pants, black hat and coat and also added a Toothbrush Mustache that would later define him as a iconic character called as The Tramp. He started to not only act but also direct his movies. His comedies also had pathos that made him a world class icon. 

He was well credited for having started United Artists that was termed a Revolutionary attempt. He was  famous and also controversial as a star. He also got into many marriages and affairs that landed him in problems. He made The Kid which was based on his stillborn son Norman. He was always a perfectionist who had entirely stressed the cast and crew.  He also was accused of being a pro communist sympathiser.

His work City Lights was such an amazing movie. For one scene, He had to do 342 takes which explained his perfectionism. His last work to feature the Tramp was Modern Times. His latter films had been sound films post the 1940s which became the worst decade. Chaplin left the US and shifted base to Switzerland. His last work was A Countess From Hong Kong which was critically panned. Chaplin was brought back to the US as he was honoured with the Oscar Honorary Award. His end came on Christmas 1977. 

Chaplin as a comedian was entirely such a phenomenon and as a filmmaker, he infused perfectionism. Despite controversies, Chaplin will always remain an immortal screen icon in Comedy. Charlie is the favorite of any kid because of his comedies. Comedy will never be the same without Chaplin. 

Crazy Mohan - The father of Rib Tickling Comedies

Crazy Mohan - The father of Rib Tickling Comedies

Take it Easy, Life is Crazy. No other quote could define the amount of humour that Crazy Mohan had given in his films, tv series and plays.

On 1952, Madras witnessed Craziness in a form of a boy named Mohan Rangachari. He was born in Chennai to an Iyengar Family. He studied in Guindy Engineering College and during his time he started writing a play called Great Bank Robbery. Prior to his full time writing, he was an engineer working with Sundaram Finance.

He later quit his job and took to writing full time and wrote Crazy Thieves In Palavakkam. That play earned him a nom de plume named Crazy Mohan. He even wrote for comedy tv series.

His debut in cinema was Poikaal Kuthirai by Director Paramount Kailasam Balachander. But he is always remembered for his comical collaboration with Actor Kamal Haasan. The first meeting between them was ironic as it was at a graveyard.

Kamal and Crazy had managed to make us laugh until our tummies hurt through their works like Apoorva Sahodargal, Michael Madana Kama Rajan, Sati Leelavati which was Balu Mahendra's attempt at comedy.

Crazy and Kamal with KS Ravikumar worked on 4 films ; Avvai Shanmugi based on  Mrs Doubtfire by Robin Williams, Tenali based on What about Bob and Panchathanthiram and Manmadhan Anbu.

Crazy Mohan wrote the dialogues for Sundar C's Arunachalam starring Rajinikanth. His last work was Naan Ee by SS Rajamouli. Crazy Mohan wrote one play called Chocolate Krishna which became a famous play. He won a Kalaimamani Award for his contribution to Arts and Literature. He also wrote 40000 Venbas in his lifetime.

On June 10th 2019, He passed away from stomach pain and thus his craziness also died. His passing left everyone in the Comedy World grieving. He might have left us but his comedies will forever make him an immortal king of comedy.

So Long Crazy Mohan, Thank you so much for making us Laugh with the comedies. We will forever remember your work for many more generations to come.