Tamil Movie - Review
In short:
Contemplating about mortality is not new - from Hindu mythology to X-Men, it is a concept that has been dealt with fantasy or practicality. Salangai oli was probably the first movie that I saw in which the concept of "immortality through art" is achieved. After that, I am seeing the same in Uttama Villain. If you think I have spoiled the movie for you, I haven't. The How's, Why's, What's are still very much what makes this movie special. Salangai Oli did not deal with this premise directly, but passed it off as an after-thought. But here, the premise has been unabashedly embraced. Is this a good movie? It has the best possible actors (barring Pooja Kumar) in the best possible roles and they have all done their parts beautifully, the screenplay with the movie-within-movie weaving in and out is beautiful, it has got beautiful wordplay, Kamal Haasan has acted his age and is a treat to watch, but... Yes, there is a but, the problem with KH is that he always tries to bring in too much. You know how we all used to have library hour in our school days? If you were a book lover like me, do you remember how one would try to cram up on as many chapters from a book as possible in that one period? Kamal Haasan is exactly like that. And somewhere in between all that cramming, he loses focus on what he is trying to say. It is not an under cooked effort, it is an effort that has been cooked, and tasted, and spices adjusted, and tasted again and again and again that at one point of time your tongue goes numb to take in the flavors.
In long:
This contains spoliers...
Where do I begin? Kamal Haasan has acted his age, yes, yes and yes. It is so wonderful that there is no pancake to disturb us when he is emoting, it really helps to see Manoranjan with his warts and all. It is cliched to say KH has acted wonderfully, when hasn't he? But here, the acting is so seamless that only when we are seeing Uttaman, the character which he plays in the movie within this movie, do we actually feel the acting. But that is also the problem. Since the present day narration (let me call it Manoranjan's portion) is so nice and happening that when we cut to the Uttaman's portion, it is a little jarring. It is as much caricatured as against the Manoranjan's portion which is so natural. And the biggest letdown of this area is Pooja Kumar. One cannot simply take her in the slapstick, it is so artificial. Take Nasser, his character is the showcase of what a comic villain caricature looks like, but he does it so effortlessly that Pooja Kumar's acting stands out like a sore thumb. The scene where Pooja Kumar (as the princess Karpagavalli) meets Uttaman and teaches him to ride her pet tiger (no, I am not kidding), I literally closed my eyes and wished the scene to end. It was boring and such a dampener on the happening story. But the wordplay of Uttaman's portion and the Crazy Mohanish dialogues are so funny, it leaves you cackling throughout.
One of the great things about this movie is that, even though it is the chronicle of Manoranjan, some of its best scenes are those in which Manoranjan is not present - the space that has been given to co-artistes sans KH is pleasantly surprising. And all those who have been credited with such scenes have done it so beautifully. Urvashi (as Varalakshmi, Manoranjan's wife) and M.S.Bhaskar (as Chokku, Manoranjan's manager) are outright awesome. Andrea, quite surprisingly does her role justice. Parvathy Menon (as Manoranjan's illegitimate daughter) has been given a small role but she is perfect for it. Jayaram, in that one scene where he asks, ungallai Ranjannu koopdalaama, naan en magallai dhaan Mano nu koopduven (can I call you Ranjan, because I call my daughter Mano), proves what one dialogue with the right nuance can do. KB is a little staccato in some scenes but when he tells Manoranjan oru dhadava naan solradha kellen (just listen to me once), you know the caliber of the man who created Rajnikanth and Kamal Haasan. K. Vishwanath has no such consistency issues, he is the right mix of the shrewd businessman and loving father. Who is that guy acting as KH's son, after the trailer and even in the beginning of the movie I never really expected him to act, but he wows you with his performance.
It has so many beautiful moments that it is difficult to pick one. Take the scene where Chokku (M.S.Bhaskar) comes to know about Manoranjan's Brain Tumor, he tells Arpana (Andrea) he knows why Manoranjan didn't tell him the news himself. And she asks him why, the way he says adhu engallukkulla (that is between the two of us - himself and Manoranjan) is a sheer treat. The guilt combined with the helplessness is perfect. So, is the scene between him and Varalakshmi (Urvashi) where he breaks the news to her unknowingly. It is just perfect, nothing else can be said about it. Parvathy (as Manonmani) has really less to do, but is just right for her role. She tells Manoranjan that she is not like him at all and that she takes after mother. And immediately after that she realizes that the stance in which she is sitting is the exact replica of Manoranjan's and immediately shifts, it is so subtle, you would miss it in a blink of an eye.
And despite all this, the movie is neither flawless nor is a seamless watch. It tries to do too much in too little time, much like the protagonist: Manoranjan needs to make up with his wife, son, daughter, father-in-law and his mentor, he needs to ensure his immortality, he needs his fans' adulation, the Uttaman story needs to unfold and wrapped up in a satisfactory way. There is the sheer volume of poetry and prose that this part involves, it is difficult to take it in a single go. And it is not because that it is bad, but that it is too overwhelming. There is just no respite, every single scene right from the beginning till the end has a footnote that you start to feel suffocated. Epiphanies don't make a movie.
This is the story of a prima donna. Yamini loved him enough to bear his child and dream a life with him but couldn't, Varalakshmi loved him like a child loves candy - she wanted him and went after him without a sense of right or wrong and got him, Arpana loves him despite the cynicism that he has garnered over the years and the fact that she would never get him - she knew that she can't be his Varalakshmi but it is indeed sad that she can't be his Yamini either. It is not that he didn't love any of these women, it is just that he always loved Cinema more that he couldn't put any one of them or even himself above it. So much that when he wants immortality, he decides to gain it through his love - Cinema. If his love towards anything can be compared to his love for cinema, it is probably the love for his children. It is because that Arpana understands this, that she hugs his kids when she feels like breaking down in the end.
One of the great things about this movie is that, even though it is the chronicle of Manoranjan, some of its best scenes are those in which Manoranjan is not present - the space that has been given to co-artistes sans KH is pleasantly surprising. And all those who have been credited with such scenes have done it so beautifully. Urvashi (as Varalakshmi, Manoranjan's wife) and M.S.Bhaskar (as Chokku, Manoranjan's manager) are outright awesome. Andrea, quite surprisingly does her role justice. Parvathy Menon (as Manoranjan's illegitimate daughter) has been given a small role but she is perfect for it. Jayaram, in that one scene where he asks, ungallai Ranjannu koopdalaama, naan en magallai dhaan Mano nu koopduven (can I call you Ranjan, because I call my daughter Mano), proves what one dialogue with the right nuance can do. KB is a little staccato in some scenes but when he tells Manoranjan oru dhadava naan solradha kellen (just listen to me once), you know the caliber of the man who created Rajnikanth and Kamal Haasan. K. Vishwanath has no such consistency issues, he is the right mix of the shrewd businessman and loving father. Who is that guy acting as KH's son, after the trailer and even in the beginning of the movie I never really expected him to act, but he wows you with his performance.
It has so many beautiful moments that it is difficult to pick one. Take the scene where Chokku (M.S.Bhaskar) comes to know about Manoranjan's Brain Tumor, he tells Arpana (Andrea) he knows why Manoranjan didn't tell him the news himself. And she asks him why, the way he says adhu engallukkulla (that is between the two of us - himself and Manoranjan) is a sheer treat. The guilt combined with the helplessness is perfect. So, is the scene between him and Varalakshmi (Urvashi) where he breaks the news to her unknowingly. It is just perfect, nothing else can be said about it. Parvathy (as Manonmani) has really less to do, but is just right for her role. She tells Manoranjan that she is not like him at all and that she takes after mother. And immediately after that she realizes that the stance in which she is sitting is the exact replica of Manoranjan's and immediately shifts, it is so subtle, you would miss it in a blink of an eye.
And despite all this, the movie is neither flawless nor is a seamless watch. It tries to do too much in too little time, much like the protagonist: Manoranjan needs to make up with his wife, son, daughter, father-in-law and his mentor, he needs to ensure his immortality, he needs his fans' adulation, the Uttaman story needs to unfold and wrapped up in a satisfactory way. There is the sheer volume of poetry and prose that this part involves, it is difficult to take it in a single go. And it is not because that it is bad, but that it is too overwhelming. There is just no respite, every single scene right from the beginning till the end has a footnote that you start to feel suffocated. Epiphanies don't make a movie.
This is the story of a prima donna. Yamini loved him enough to bear his child and dream a life with him but couldn't, Varalakshmi loved him like a child loves candy - she wanted him and went after him without a sense of right or wrong and got him, Arpana loves him despite the cynicism that he has garnered over the years and the fact that she would never get him - she knew that she can't be his Varalakshmi but it is indeed sad that she can't be his Yamini either. It is not that he didn't love any of these women, it is just that he always loved Cinema more that he couldn't put any one of them or even himself above it. So much that when he wants immortality, he decides to gain it through his love - Cinema. If his love towards anything can be compared to his love for cinema, it is probably the love for his children. It is because that Arpana understands this, that she hugs his kids when she feels like breaking down in the end.
No comments:
Post a Comment