காதல் கழுதைக்கும் வரும்

அனைவரும் 96 படத்தின் மோகத்திலிருந்து விடுபட்டிருப்பீர்கள் என நம்புகிறேன். சிலர் வட சென்னை மீது காதல் வயப்பட்டும் இருப்பீர்கள். ஆதலால், இது 96ஐப் பற்றி மீண்டும் பேச வேண்டிய தருணம் என நினைக்கிறேன்.

Quick Read: Are we really ready to watch early morning show for director?

This age of cinema is all about early morning openings on FDFS. Earlier it was a privilege only for mega stars like Rajini, Vijay, and Ajith. Later, Siva Karthikeyan, Simbu, and Dhanush joined the club - fyi, the recent addition is Vijay Deverakonda. In the due course of time, every other big budget flick started to hit screens with an early morning opening, and unlike other movies they weren't like targetting the box office believing on the star-value but money-value - Baahubali-2 comes under this category. This early morning custom started to grow apparently making it a routine, like once in every 15 days occurrence - in last three months there were at least six movies opened in early mornings.

Everyone isn't rowdy in Vada Chennai

"Is this how we speak, work or live?", is the unanimous question people of north Madras raise against the makers of Vada Chennai, especially its director Vetri Maaran. Questioning the integrity and credibility of the ace director, there have been a lot of charges about the biased portrayal of the demography of the film’s plot.

Vada Chennai: Vetri Maaran's illustration for linchpin theory

Replicating nativity with its own essence has been an easy trait for a lot of filmmakers. But, a few like Vetri Maaran have done more than that. They create a universe in their movies within this nativity and tell stories of the soil. Vada Chennai becomes his masterpiece as the creator of Polladhavan, Aadukalam and Visaaranai, has reinvented himself in the first instalment of his dream trilogy.

Caste and Tamil Cinema: Where is this leading to?

Like how romance, action and thriller genre flicks are immortal, Tamil cinema, on and off, has also seen movies that have either glorified caste system or mocked it.

The latest release of Mari Selvaraj’s Pariyerum Perumal, from Pa Ranjith’s production house ‘Neelam’, joins the club of caste abolition movies. Subsequently, it also has triggered some serious debates on communalism being projected on the screen.

96: For all the Rams with frozen clocks

Ram says photography is the only form of art that is capable of freezing time. In a figurative perception, if we look at his life, he actually lives it like a snapped image. Yes, his time stopped running the moment he and his Janu parted. But, the love Ram has for Janu has not diminished a bit even after 22 years since they last met.

It is the same for Janu as well, whose feeling towards Ram is unchanged. Nevertheless, her clock has not frozen like Ram’s. There is a dialogue when she asks him, “Romba thooram poitiya, Ram?” — have you gone very far? For which he replies that he is still at the same point where he dropped her. That is where I could feel the kind of love the pair had for each other.

Filmmaker Premkumar’s 96 passes like this, reminding one of our good old days and the points in our life where time got frozen.

96: எனக்கு என்றுமே அக்‌ஷை தான் லேட் கம்மர்

காலத்தை நிறுத்திவைக்கும் வல்லமை கொண்ட ஒரே கலை நிழற்படக்கலை மட்டும் தான் என்பது ராமின் கருத்து. அவனும் ஒரு நிழற்படக் கலைஞன் தான். இன்னும் சொல்லப்போனால் தன் வாழ்க்கையையே நிழற்படக்கலையோடு ஒத்துப்போகும் வழியில் தான் வாழ்கிறான். ஆம், அவனுடைய காலமும் தன் ஜானுவை விட்டு வந்த 1994லேயே நின்றுவிட்டது. ஆனால், இன்றும் அவள் மீது அப்போதிருந்த காதல் துளியும் மாறவில்லை.

ஜானுவுக்கும் அப்படித்தான், காதல் மாறவில்லை. ஆனால், ராமைப்போலில்லாமல் காலம் அவளுக்கு உறையாமல் ஓடிக்கொண்டே இருந்துள்ளது. ஒருமுறை அவனிடம் கேட்கிறாள், "ரொம்ப தூரம் போய்ட்டியா ராம்?". ஆனால் அவனோ, "உன்ன எங்கவிட்டேனோ அங்கயேதான் நின்னுக்கிட்டு இருக்கேன் ஜானு," என்கிறான். காலம் அவன் வாழ்க்கையை நிழற்படமாக்கிவிட்டது. காதலும்தான்.

இப்படியாக பிரேம்குமாரின் '96' திரைப்படம், நமக்கு நம்முடைய காலம் உறைந்துபோன ஒவ்வொரு நொடியையும் தன் காட்சிகளால் நினைவுபடுத்திக்கொண்டே துவங்கி முடிகிறது.

Atharkku Thaga: Be the fourth person

Some narratives stay with us creating an impact subtly rooting to our foundations and reconsider the functionalities of the ecosystem we affiliate to. It could be the society, a classroom, a friends' circle, relatives - our system. Why not, it could even be a gated community where sharing split seconds of a smile is a desert's rain.

We've, knowingly or unknowingly, always lived half our lives for the sake of this ecosystem that does not even know the depths of the emotions we go through. Speaking in the first-person account, my first second-person(s) in this structure are my parents with whom I share most of my emotions. The drama and the conversations that we have between 'us' is believed to be influenced by the third person in the ecosystem.

Ratsasan: Reach him before he reaches you

As we saw in the trailer and the teaser, Ram Kumar's Ratsasan is all about the plot set around the series of murders by a psycho-killer. But, in its film language, the movie has explored a bigger space and has touched various shades of brutality on a very smart screenplay that keep us gripped with tension.

How did Gandhi inspire Kamal Haasan to launch Makkal Needhi Maiam?

Talking about Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi in relation to Tamil cinema, the first film that strikes our minds would undoubtedly be writer-director Kamal Haasan’s masterpiece, Hey Ram (2000).

The movie, set in a very unusual and Kamal’s flavoured controversy, is all about justifying the assassination of Gandhi. The screenplay traverses from the viewpoint of Saket Ram, who loses his wife to the Hindu-Muslim riots that happened during the Partition of West Bengal and East Pakistan – a similar story of Nathuram Godse whose sister was raped and killed in the commotion.