2022: The Year of Diarrhea

 

This is my long awaited sequel to the 2009 and 2008 review I wrote back then. Compared to last two years, those two years were like time spent at a monastery.

In all fairness, getting by 2021 and hopping into 2022 was not exactly like from pot into the fire… no. It was like missing the flame, but getting right down to the coal, getting raked left right till you are not even edible to a T-Rex.

Despite the fact that T-Rex will resist you as pièce de résistance, for having a more refined taste, ...but then, even the great Extinct One would be glad that it didn’t stick around for the stinkaroo that was 2022. Seriously, it was a shitty year in which the only momentary reprieve was when Will Smith smacked Chris Rock and was talked about in the media in the same manner as they would when Hitler invaded Poland.

Speaking of which, right in the beginning of the year, Russia invaded Ukraine. It was not an incursion, or a mild mosquito-esque bite on some small village. It was a goddamned invasion. And the world sat and posted stuff about it, about the human rights, about how unfair life is on Ukraine and how Putin is a shitbag. More than 50 million Ukrainian civilians were killed… but don’t forget to wear a mask.

Because Covid didn’t end in 2021. Nosireebob. The year ended, but Covid signed an extension contract with the devil (played by John Malkovich) and continued to party all year around. This writer got infected briefly. The experience, shall I say, was confusing. I was expecting an ‘Excorcist Linda Blair’ like reaction, but all I got was mild fever, a bit of body ache and some shits. What a bummer.

Yet, 2022 had its own roller coaster ride and calm boat ride. This year, finally Anwar Ibrahim realized his and his followers’ dream of finally become the prime minister of the country – after a rather relaxed voting process. The amount of yelling, cursing and Facebook banning would make you think that Malaysian voters are rabid political beasts who would bite live electric wire to prove a point. Come the actual time to go out there and doin’ dat thang, they were all just regular blokes and gals. Some even said good morning.

The win by Pakatan Harapan made “I told you so” as the most used expression in the country, and everyone was excited including Barisan Nasional who, for years hating DAP decided to join force because… no, not because they want to share power. Of course, not. They want to help us, the people. Yeah. Does that sound convincing? How if I tell you that fish can ride a bicycle? Yeah, that’s more convincing.

Then, there’s the case involving our former prime minister Najib Tun Razak. Those who despised him were happy with the sentencing handed out. But then, there are those who thinks something is not right. There’s something rotten in the state of KL. There is no point going deep into it, as everyone should enjoy the honeymoon phase with their favourite idol as the prime minister. The shit is only halfway to the fan.

Speaking of “interesting” leadership, Twitter agreed to sell itself to Elon Musk. Seriously, that’s what most of the medias say. I am not saying that Twitter has since become like a gigolo or something. But there is certainly some element of someone wanting to use something for their own perverted pleasure thing going on there.             

In May, the United States of America made the news when their president said something stupid. Oh, who am I kidding. That happens all the time. No, the news is tragic…that is when 19 children and two teachers were killed when an 18 years old opened fire in a classroom at an….

….elementary school. I know we were all shocked by it, then we moved on like deciding what’s for lunch. But let that sink again. Also, dig this: US has had at least 604 mass shootings so far in 2022 and this news came out in November. That is bigger number than their 116 Olympic medals won last year.

And we continue to take the sons of bitches from that country seriously. That’s a child murdering nation, with presidents who immediately assume the role of homicidal maniacs killing people inside and mostly, outside of the country. And there are Malaysians who are just too eager to carry the goddamned Eagle nation’s balls, and with the members of the new government - now that all of the main knuckleheads have joined forces – are now going to be ready to offer their organic boot cleaning services for a fistful of dollars. We’re gonna get sprayed with pure American holy pee soon.

There are plenty of losses this year. Among the celebrities listed here by a UK media Olivia Newton-John Robbie Coltrane, Olivia Newton-John, Taylor Hawkins, Dame Deborah James, Dame Angela Lansbury, Vivienne Westwood, and Queen Elizabeth II. Yes, the latter is listed as a celebrity.

Now, the Brits have a king after more than seven goddamned decades. We have King Charles over there, and, queen Camille. But history will mostly remember them for the tampon thing.

We also had World Cup. For the first time since 1982, I never watched a single game. Speaking of the game, we lost Pele – the greatest ever footballer, who sprinkled so much magic to the game that I dare say that in developing world, he was bigger than whoever or whatever's being worship.

2022 has now come to an end. The Covid cases has gone down – but let’s face it, it was devastating. This is what I got off the net:

Malaysia cases

Updated 30 Dec, 2022

Confirmed cases: 5,025,581

Deaths:  36,851

Global cases

Confirmed cases: 658,820,443

Deaths: 6,684,285

The entire year was ruled by a tiny virus, not a new king or prime minister. A tiny goddamned virus. We can only hope that the next year would be better as we do every year. 

Since the last several years had been progressively worst, I am reminded of an old Tamil movie comedy. This dude played by Nagesh tells another dude, Neelu, about the visit to an astrologer.

Nagesh: The astrologer said, only until I am fifty would I go through difficulties, suffer like a dog

Nilu: After 50?

Nagesh: I will get used to it.

Happy New Year everyone…. Keep the mask on. The…other mask, I mean.

Naai Sekhar (2022)

Note: Expectedly dull and dumb, but worth for Anandharaj’s hillarious turn as frustrated baddy. Also, the end song, an apt rap by Vadivelu himself, with dance choreographed by Prabhu Deva.

The film begins by thanking meme creators. There’s a necessity for that. Vadivelu has been making comebacks like burnout rock stars surviving on nostalgia and “Best Of” collection sales.

Vadivelu is now on second lease (pun…see movie titles) of his career comeback. The first time after he ran out of favour with cinema audience, the repeated showcasing of his earlier comedy scenes found new batch of audience and he made a film being the lead.

Then, it’s the memes…if you have social media friends who do watch Tamil films, you can’t run away from those memes with Vadivelu in it.

Be as it may, Vadivelu needs good writers. After his split from his writing partner Singgamuthu, his art (whatever it is) suffered so much so that  he couldn’t even compete with the lesser comics now filling his market stall.

The industry that’s prone to self congratulations at the drop of a hat, with almost a century of experience behind it is bereft of good scriptwriters, let alone ones who could deal with comedy. The last time there was a good full length comedy feature was 23am Pulikesi which benefited from a very good original source (cartoon strip in magazine). 

It has not been so since in few Vadivelu starrers.

With a limited comic talent Vadivelu relied heavily on slapsticks and self deprecation for laughs, while occasionally dishing out able dramatic performances. But his bag of trick is limited, and a comics expiry date on big screen is just as limited.

Here's another opportunity to make use of Vadivelu by the filmmakers and Vadivelu himself to tap on the fans still remembering him through the incessant (often unfunny) memes.

But the film is only slightly funnier than the crass soapwater shit being passed off as comedy on TV and social media. It didn’t even push Vadivelu into a newer direction which 24am Pulikesi did.

Those still nostalgic about the “great era” would sit through this out of respect and in hope that there’ll be some sort of redemption somewhere. Otherwise the film is a sketch piece but stretched a bit too far.

Also you know shit is not working when you hafta insert that Goundamani/Senthil Karagattakaran theme. In a Vadivelu flick. There’s hardly an originally hilarious moment, just recaps, recalls from his earlier flicks.

Still, the solace comes in form of the flick’s baddy Anandharaj. His desperation, frustrations especially with his inept henchmen who later has to adjust to them who has to do regular jobs to support themselves. That by itself would have been a wonderful subject to explore with Anandharaj himself as big time gangster dealing with labour issues, and latter's health after his bits get shot. He’s the funniest here.

But they’ll stretch that thin too. Sad that Vadivelu’s comeback pitch keeps fizzling out. Time for him to take a bow or continue with character roles. He’s better as a second lead at least.

#rakeshmovietalk 

Food Karma

Thought I would write one after a long time. Just a blog on nothing.

Today, an acquaintance of mine taught me the word, “food coma”. I was on What’s App telling her that I am feeling sleepy after a rather generous helping of lunch. She send a voice message in a tone that half suggested that she is sorry for me sincerely, and in another half probably thinking that I just got out of Niah Cave after thirty years.

“Food coma? Yeah, food coma.” She repeated it one more time…third one possibly to hint about my age.

I laughed it off, “kids, these days!” Rolling my eyes upwards and checked what it meant online. Dammit, I need to update myself.

And voila! There is food coma, but the proper terminology for it, medically, is “Postprandial Somnolence". I had to push my heart back down my esophagus. What the hell was that!

To an untrained ears (in a household that lacked budget for cotton buds), that sounds terrifying. It’s like massive cavity injury somewhere between groin and ass with growing fungal infection. Or something like that. Goddamned Postprandial Somnolence!

But its just food coma. It’s that feeling of slight drowsy, slight tiredness, three spoonful of massive laziness and generous helping of sleepiness. Yeah, all that ‘ness’ coming and assaulting you like the SEAL team from Planet Sleeptopia.

In any case, why do we actually want to have  a massive lunch many a times? Especially in Malaysia? Long time ago, I wrote a piece here (2005) and here (2008) on on Banana leaf lunch and made a case that there is something in there that I suggest you read. You think what I’m gonna reproduce an excerpt politely like I do in my more serious writing? Balik kampong dah! This is my informal side, I even type topless here.

But in there, I suggested some chemical reason as to why we get sleepy. Decades have passed since then (actually only slightly more than a decade, but I am known to be dramatic especially to those who had faithfully deleted my numbers)…. And now most of us know why we get sleepy after lunch.

No, I don’t. Postprandial Somnolenc...it seems....

Now, this lady friend of mine told me about food coma and knowing well that my ass is lazier than a goddamned sloth on pot, I was to check what it meant. Also the term is very new for an old fart approaching fifth decade of existence (minus two and a half years in Rehab where I was kinda frozen in time). Kids these days know more about all this sort of things and most I can muster as an intellectual bid is that Cary Grant was supposed to do James Bond but couldn’t commit to multiple picture deals.

It says here…”Food comas typically result in a person feeling drowsy or fatigued. Some people also feel bloated, sluggish, or less alert, and may also be distinctly uninterested in being active…”

Yeah. Its also known as Postprandial Somnolence. 

So, there you go. Food coma. I kinda like it, grown fond of it, thinking of adopting it and calling it Postprandial Somnolence proper. So that I make sure I don’t have to deal with that stupid thing again. Adieu….

 

 

Ponniyin Selvan (2022)

In the 1991 film, Thalabathi, there is a song sequence in which director Mani Rathnam paid tribute towards Japanese master filmmaker of past, Akiro Kurosawa’s – Sundari Kannal Oru Seythi. The song features Samurai Rajini, the baddies in similar war costumes, several horses, mostly shot between legs, with close-ups of  horseback sword fight, shot MTV style to gently mask the lack of budget properly required if they were going full force for that sequence. It was a dream to have that scene filmed in full glory.

That dream is realised by Mani Rathnam through the spectacularly re-imagined work of literature giant Kalki Krishnamoorthy’s epic tome Ponniyin Selvan. It was such a huge book in the size of content, characters, intrigue and most importantly the rich setting during the Chola Dynasty that would have had producers and studios pawn their old negatives to get that budget – if they still have it, the negatives I mean.

Mani Rathnam tapped on all the available resources, multiple name casts, award winning technicians, and the best effects services offered and put together perhaps on one of the most important films to come out of Tamil film industry since, well, Karnan. No not that one, this small film I mentioned came out in 1964.

Taking cue from Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan, we are brought into the middle of a battle right from the beginning (in fact, the very beach attack scene, albeit with arrows and the rock trebuchets that looks more like imported from medieval England, but what do I know). Even the uniforms looks more like the mighty Romans of the Caesar era than the simpler ones I saw in a smaller flick on Rajaraja Cholan by Nadigar Thilagam Sivaji Ganesan (Rajaraja Cholan, 1973)

After the battle scene, the film follows Vandhiyadevan’s (Karthi) character as he takes us through his road trip on horseback through in different kingdom, after he had fought side by side with the story’s supposed protagonist Aditya Karikalan (Vikram, because he got top billing). There are politics, intrigue, romance, more fight sequences and most importantly the joie de vivre of being transported to a different time that makes this film an incredibly delightful experience – on big screen that is.

The story in a hand of an amateur would be convoluted, but Mani was wise to let us stay with Vandiyadevan for clarity’s sake as he takes us to meet many characters, manage obstacles with his witty quips, laser-mouthed observations, while flirting with girls ranging from queen to a boat rower, and here and there, unsheathing the sword for some good ole boys' beheading and dismembering fun. He is aided by rather unrecognisable Jeyaram, and both together are sort of classy, epic version of Sathyaraj and Goundamani and I mean it by most honourable way.

My complaints are two. One, using chaste Tamil is awesome, but oh how it could have been made smoother, cooler, and used in the most classical sense with cutting wit, and aesthetically exhilarating prose that made the earlier period films stand tall among classics. Mani’s penchant for brevity in dialogues is carried over, though thankfully not clipped like the ones he deploys in the films with contemporary setting. So, the beauty of Tamil language is not what you will find here.

Speaking of beauty, Aishwarya Rai is indeed central to the flick, and I applaud Mani for finally giving strength to a female character, but it was there in the book. Aishwarya, forever one of the worst actors to be celebrated in that country, continues to be frozen faced and gets to say lines that specifically denotes what she feels, lack of facial expression doesn’t matter I suppose. But I am not kidding about the iced (Ais?) face – you have to see it to believe it. Don’t be distracted by her beauty pageant disposition that she had successfully maintained over the decades, just look at how her face alone is lighted, and positioned for the camera. Stick her photos on an animatronics mannequin and you won’t be able to tell a difference. Even her famously famous Miss Freeze-face cohort Trisha gets to move some facial muscles.

Of the gals, the other Aishwarya, that is, Aishwarya Lekshmi stands out as Poongulazhi, the boat gal. Gosh, she was such a delight, as an independent woman, who could handle men, boat and the tame the sea just as she tamed any being. She's feminine and yet could handle the boat like a season seaman. She puts Vandiyadevan in his place, when he tries his world-famous charm on her. He's good, she's better. But being overfilled with characters, time with her had been mercifully small – I wanted to see more of her.

Vikram’s screen time too is considerably low, compared to Karthi, but he was ably cast, mostly with poses, and the growls and the roars that he had perfected over the year. There was hurt in his character, something broke his heart and ego, and this actor managed to deliver it without any goddamned prosthetics.

There are so many who’s who in every scene, which is why this is one of the most important accomplishments in the film. In a lesser flick, the inferior characters are filled with non-actors, or out of job character artistes and it shows. Here, you have the likes of Prabhu (Ganesan), his son, Vikram, and many others, unrecognisable beneath the facial hair filling up ably the roles and adding gravity to them – and the massive amount of beards all around adding weight of course. Casting really matters to a film of this size and Mani’s reputation was enough to rope in as many important stars possible (Kamal Haasan participated by giving opening voice over in his gravelly monotone presentation).

But most importantly, as with the audience that I was with (twice, I was invited again to watch the IMAX version – which was worth it), I am particularly taken to Karthi – there was a sense of Indiana Jones spirit in him. Fun, funny, and even there was an Indy-like fight sequence, that mixes both cleverness and clumsiness that reminded me of the famed fictional archaeologist. Karthi is certainly the Harrison Ford of our industry albeit with more smile, and is versatile, fun on screen, a scene-stealing powerhouse and always a delight to watch. You can say that considering the fact that two third of films lay heavily on his character’s shoulder and Karthi pulled it off affably.

On the score, AR Rahman suddenly remembered the Oscars he had won and went full steam ahead with this one. The songs didn’t register for me, and they shouldn’t because they are meant for elevating the films moments and they did for sure. Thankfully the background scores didn’t try to dominate, and he and his pal Siva Mani went back to the percussion roots to beat the crap out for some of the intriguing moments. But expect more Hans Zimmer than K.V. Mahadevan if you are looking for more Tamil-styled sound – though I would have wished differently from someone who composed the incredible Sangamam songs.

And so, Manirathnam has come back to deliver the promise, the promise that he is one of the best Indian film directors so full of promise once and have, now, he has delivered. Him being a film student is so evident here, as the abovementioned huge nods to Kurosawa, as well as the war films of John Ford, the epics of Cecil D. B. Mille, and Kubrick’s canvas (Spartacus) especially are spread throughout the films – and that delights the film buff in me too.

Really looking forward to part two. Film gods, may you keep Mani in peak condition to one-up this one – it is going to be an uphill task, but he can pull it off for sure. And please, please, I beseech the highly excitable film industry that gets infected by trends faster than COVID, keep Karthi around for a couple more decades at least. He is far more talented than his father and his national award-winning brother combined. He brings that something extra to the table. This dude is a treasure.

 

Greenwashing: Consigning Conscience to Consumers

Many big businesses have painted themselves to a corner: "No green, no gain".

Rakesh Kumar Premakumaran

Going green is no longer a cool thing to do. It has become a necessity, may it be for an individual or a group. And what excellent public relations and marketing tools they make in addition to keeping the conscience buffed and spotless.

Read full article here:

Death Sentence For Drug Dealers: Taking A Closer Look

Death sentences for drug mules: Mere relic or still relevant? - NMH graphics by DH via Canva.com

Rakesh Kumar Premakumaran

31 July 2022

Death Sentence for drug trafficking has been a thorn on the side of many policy makers around the world – especially having to deal with the protests. How effective is it? As a former rehabilitated alcoholic who had been in the company of recovering drug addicts, the writer finds the need to also weigh in other matters….

The opinion piece in here.

Senthozhan Senthkathirvanan (2022)

 This review appeared in New Malaysia Herald. I am reproducing here for record keeping:

Senthozhan Sengkathirvaanan: The Daze, The Deranged And The Dame

Rakesh Kumar Premakumaran

26 July 2022

A Malaysian Tamil flick taking on the psychological thriller bull by the horn, underwhelming at parts, saved by the lead actress’ conviction and energetic performance

Malaysian films have some sort of self-limiting explorative nature. Genres can be visited but they are mostly restricted to Malay films. Films industries existing outside of behemoths like Hollywood, Bollywood (and its non-Hindi language sub-industries) and Hong Kong are usually more invested in making films that reflect their respective country’s culture and sociopolitical scenarios. 

As such, it is very daring for a Malaysian filmmaker to make Senthozhan Sengkathirvaanan, a Tamil film within the confines of a psychological thriller asylum – because it would be a mad business decision. 

Yet, first-time director Govind Singh pulled off a quiet, grounded, “don’t-wake-the-baby-up” serene Tamil language Malaysian-made thriller flick that has its moments and is certainly desirable for more. 

This review is a follow-up of the premier show on 24 July in TSR Cinemax Shah Alam, quite a grand affair where contributors were honoured and the self-congratulatory gesture was a mass proceeding -– where many were honoured on stage, with most recognised for being reasons for the existence of the film to the point that some may have direct connections to the Lumiere brothers.  

The filmmakers and stars also thanked audiences – made of mostly those in the “industry” or involved with the film – and were given tips on how not to have the film taken out of the cinema due to poor run. Support, encouragement, buying tickets by block – but nothing can stop the audience from moving their butts from home to the theatre hall if actual words of mouth are not encouraging.  

Anyway, since I was involved during the post-production of Senthozhan Sengkathirvaanan writing the subtitles, this is my second viewing perhaps with some tweaking involved. Nothing much changed except for the additions of various production companies’ names before the title credit that allowed time to rush out to get more popcorn or return missed calls. 

The story written by Govind and Vino Chandra centres on a somewhat aloof, strange, and, as we find out later, slightly deranged, off-the-centre-of-gravity dude by the name of Kathir played by Kash Villanz, who does some err…computer thingy – we have that scene of his fingers sailing across keyboards with nothing happening on the monitor. 

Who cares about the profession, much effort was taken by the filmmaker and writer to enhance the protagonist’s eccentricity, including the part where he shaves with a chopper (the knife, not the bike). He drinks booze aplenty and could have benefitted from product placements with brands like Johnny Walker, Ballantine and the likes in full display.

Then, as it is wont with Tamil films that couldn’t shake off romances in any genre like a wet canine, a girl gets interested in him – in this case, our heroine, played with gusto by Moon Nila, who ventures out to find out about our hero’s dark past even though he seems like a nice guy at one time and big time jerk in another. Boy, one itches to know his origin story, no?

So, we have unconventional behaviour on Kathir’s part, prompting the girl to snoop around, and some secondary plot involving a querulous couple next door – which is parallel to the hero’s abusive childhood.

Anyway, Moon Nila (whose name I am sure is not copy-pasted from a Google Translate result) is a formidable force in this flick. She had a skeleton to work with but worked on her additional skillset to add the pounds of flesh, with an ounce of pathos, a pinch of feminism, a fracas of humour, a frantic amount of courage and conviction that would make us care for enough to consider her falling for the jerk-hero as a minor misdemeanour.

If not for her character’s concern for the hero, we never would care for him, so she had quite a task ahead of her – the venture that was let down by the usual Tamil film affliction:  flashback-isitis. There was just one too many, but most of the current Tamil films are mostly never made without them – the audience are so used to it that they are not aware of it, like global warming. 

Despite what the film had promised, violence is far and few in between, and mostly in the background. The danger element are supposedly present throughout, but our butts are in no way going to the edge of the seat – it feels like reaching for the ceiling but touching the top of the cupboard instead. 

Another reason to watch this thriller flick is for the soundtrack, which was composed entirely by Kash Villanz. Before the teaser release, the producers released 3 tracks from this movie on the vhommiez Youtube channel. The first track is sung by Kash Villanz himself titled, Mudhal Mura, followed by Pasi Thookam Panjam and Yathey sung by Ganesan Manoghran and Kishen Dass, Michael Rao respectively.

This film will find its audience who had not watched earlier Tamil films like Sigappu Rojakkal (1979) or Puthiya Paravai (1964)– both of which explored the protagonist’s source and consequences of derangement and been influential with all those “psycho” characters appearing in Tamil films ever since.

All in all, the production quality is pretty good for a limited budget Malaysian fare – far more limited than the bigger Malay language films, of course, but that shouldn’t stop quality exuding from the writing and performances. 

A potential that may appeal to audiences who are tired of the usual “safe” Malaysian Tamil entries on small screens especially.

But don’t let that hamper your viewing experience. I thoroughly enjoyed Moon Nila’s performance – she inhabited her role like a comfortable glove and took us for a bit of an emotional roller-coaster ride – for that reason alone it’s worth sitting through the film.

Senthozhan Sengkathirvaanan produced by Govind and Kash Villanz himself will also be featuring popular Malaysian talents like Shamini, Cellina Jay and Chandinie Kaur.

All in all, Senthozhan Sengkathirvaanan is a passable thriller, and certainly a laudable entry from the microscopic Malaysian Tamil film industry. This psychological thriller will be screened in cinemas nationwide on 28 July 2022 onwards!

Rocketry (2022)

Note: A film that exactly delivered what it had promised, neither disappointment, nor overstaying welcome.  Madhavan the writer excelled.

The review:

Being a fan of Madhavan’s and him (alongside Kamal and Rajini) being the only actor I follow online, I came on board of the Rocketry experience from the time it was announced.  It was a crazy deal.  Madhavan is not the most sought-after actor now, he never quite had worked close on any capacity other than just an actor with other directors is directing.  And writing?  Puh-leeze (*eye roll*).

And it as it turned out,  the ranking goes like this for Madhavan’s three role in this film (in my assessment,  that is):

1.       Writer

2.       Director

3.       Actor.

Many actors have taken a stab at direction, and most floundered,  let’s not even talk about the self serving writing,  often designed to bite more than what they can chew.

But Madhavan managed to regroup all he could muster, the three decades of experience working with varieties of filmmakers and technicians, crafting a compelling script that is not an eulogy to a still living larger than life figure, but an unraveling of the slices of life of a brilliant man who is not without his flaws,  who was, too bad,  and I don’t care if many disagree with this,  just born on the wrong geographical spot at the wrong time.

First and foremost, it doesn’t even feel like an Indian film,  at least in the contemporary sense, especially not a Tamil film.  None of those over the top (sometimes literally) showy cinematography or use of editing gimmicks that look two decades left behind.  Speaking of which, I don’t know why they dig up Simran whose cinematic record being having never used her own voice and performing mostly with just her hips, and emoting by contracting/flaring nostrils.  At least she retired the hips here.

The filmmaking itself deserves accolades, and as mentioned, never going over the top, telling the story as it is, of a man who was instrumental in the efforts behind an important scientific endeavour who later became victim of internal, and international politics, wronged and later absolved of the manufactured “crime”.

There may be complaints during the first part of the film where the science may bewilder many of those uninitiated on the rocket science, which would be majority of us – but Madhavan the director brought out fantastic performances from all around even the international casts who would normally sleepwalk their roles for paycheque.

As an actor Madhavan excelled in not crying for attention to himself – the ego of a director/actors who often projected themselves as larger than life heroes is completey out of question here. In fact, in showing his patriotism and dedication to his work, his character, Nambi Narayanan, withholds the message about the funeral of one of his scientists’ child so that nothing disrupts the planned assignment for his handpicked group of scientists. It showed the selfish side of him, very conflicting, but his conscience is cleared during the later part of the film. Madhavan was fantastic here - and I had always seen that crazed fire in his eyes many a times in his older films (used to maximum effort in Thambi, a guilty pleasure of mine).

As the director, despite the slow pace, he kept the emotion in check throughout the film often keeping us at the edge of the chair even though there is no shooting of guns or splattering blood.

Indeed, and speaking as someone who no longer watches new Tamil releases regularly, this is perhaps one of the most important films to come out in that language, though, as mentioned, this does not feel like an Indian film at all, let alone the Tamil version.

Yet, one cannot dismiss the bitterness expressed towards the end of the film, the appreciation for real genius and talent, amidst the society that has no respect for those, a society that is still clinging on to morbidly dumbass values from culture. I felt it strongly, and that is why I say Nambi Narayanan has no business in, at least, this part of the world.

Thankfully, this film will continue to remind us of that. Those who wrong Nambi still exists, in our society in fact… and that crab story will still persist when it comes to Indian community no matter which country it is in. It’s a sad truth, and Rocketry, more than a celebration of a genius, is a sad commentary on the failure of a society, of a culture, of leaders who are never in the business of grooming leaders but are only concerned about their rickety authority chair they are clinging on too. The collateral damage to their egoistical struggle is scientists like Nambi Narayanan,

This film makes me extremely proud to be a fan of Madhavan. After Kamal and Rajini, and to a certain extend Prabhu Ganesan, I had ranked Madhavan high as an actor way back then. But with a new dimension as a director, and most importantly as a good scriptwriter, I believe the new multi-faced avatar of Madhavan will get the recognition he deserves, a far cry from the heartthrob image he once possessed. I am really proud to be his fan.

 

RKP – 10 Jul 2022

The Money Trap (1965)

Rita and Glenn.... both apparently had
real life affair lasting decades.

My beloved Rita Hayworth was already a faded star at this point….much like another darling of mine, Marlene Dietrich. The latter appeared in a semi-tragic role in Touch of Evil (1968), a former girlfriend of Orson Welles’ corrupt cop.

Rita’s is more or less the same role….and with longer screen time than Dietrich, she played a tragic figure, a gal who saw just one too many promises from men who are not all that they are cut out to be.

Her beau, ex, is Glenn Ford, a morally ambiguous cop who, through her, finds a large stash of money and heroin… and since his own current marriage to a rich socialite now requires serious funding seeing that her dad is planning to cut off the sponsorship, he plans to hide the stash…

Of course, this is the last of the few Film Noirs that flourished the previous two decades and the rule of the film dictates that the protagonists are doomed anyway – and the beauty of those films are just that, gloomy, downbeat and with shadows of dread following.

Both Ford and Hayworth are not new to this genre and the are both fantastic. This is not among the well known film of that era, considering the genre was making its way out,, lost in between big, colour extravaganza spy flicks and Rock Hudson / Doris Day comedies and the coming of the Brat filmmakers like Scorcese, de Palma, Lucas, Spielberg and Coppola. It will not be remembered…

….unless you are a fan of both stars… ME, especially as I wanted to watch this being the late entry in Hayworth’s ouvre. It is not a spectacular role, neither it is as memorable as Diettich’s in that Welles film… her performance was strong enough for a tragic character… at least I was moved.

A simple film, filled with morally skewered folks, running for about an hour and a half, definitely would be relegated to one of those forgotten B-grades with A-grade stars – or at least Hayworth was. But unlike her earlier roles that made oh-so-elated, this one just made me said – RKP 5/6/2021

Vikram (2022)

Note: Tales of secret agent Arul Kumar Vikram continues. Yes, you gotta be a hardcore Kamal fan to know that name in full.

Is this a crazy coincidence or what? That we would get two sequels to two films that came out from two different film industries in 1986. There was Top Gun: Maverick that followed the lead character’s adventure 35 years later.

That’s Hollywood and Top Gun was a huge blockbuster. But this film, which has the same title as the original that came out the same year (1986), is indeed an unofficial sequel to a flop – which is why the follow up is rather ambiguous in its connection.

Well, not really if one were the evaluate the presence of the title song from the original (Vikram!!)… and that Kamal would mouth the other part of the lyrics, as well as the use of his old pix of that era in one of the exposition scenes.

Logesh Kanagaraj is definitely a Kamal fan and it shows… and like many of us who grew up as his fans in the 80s, it is the action packed, ass kicking Kamal that most of us are fans of – much to the chagrin of the other kamal fans who worship his “genius” which mostly are recycled Hollywood stuff. But I don’t want to get into that argument.

The film picks up with the “death” of the protagonists… something that is going to nastily lead us, yes, to flashbacks…. Something I had always complained about when it comes to Tamil films, but its okay…it is expected. Then, there’s routine investigations; and some run of the mill poorly choreographed action with CGI blood splatters and shooting. When the hell are they ever gonna work with squibs and proper blank shooting guns….I'll never know. They spend shitload of cash in elaborate song sequences and unnecessary travels over the years and no one invested in that movie pyrotechnic toys... 

Back to the flick,  we are introduced to three main protagonists, Kamal’s Karnan (a nod to Nadigar Thilagam? Who knows), Fahad Fadhil as Amar, the (in my opinion slow and bumbling) investigations officer of a certain “untouchable” team and of course Vijay Sethubathi as the baddie, Santhanam.

The latter gets to chew his scenery like nobody’s business…more often than not, reminding me of the more instinctive (as opposed to Kamal’s methodical) performances of the early Rajini, especially when the later was stealing she's even from Kamal playing characters of darker shade.

Fahad had thankless role of playing a routine role….though as a performner he is top notch, his character is not well written … his seemed to be crafted as  an intelligent officer, but he sure is as dim as an old lavatory light bulb (the ‘realisation’ scene was supposed to be clever in the writing, but didn’t improve on the protagonists believability being someone on top of his game).

Kamal, of course, goes back to the action route that the 80s burdened him, and is totally believable in his physically demanding performance as he edges towards big 70. I think the success of The Expendables franchise must have given him the confidence to take on this role which at first glance may not be age appropriate (it is actually,  the character is 60 years old).

The plot may be convulated to some and not to few, frankly when flashbacks started occurring like the rainless lightening, I didn’t give a damn. Some dialogues are gonna give the exposition anyway and we are back on the story’s track.

The small audience that watched with me in LFS Rawang were euphoric during the introduction of Kamal and Vijay Sethubathi (who gets more heroic intro scene)…. But I clapped only once… for Agent Tina. What a revelation, and what a character…first time I am seeing a gal in a Tamil film fighting like a man, too bad... err,  never mind I won't spoil it!

The action choreography are muddled, poorly edited and messy as expected, I was totally not hooked, just waited for them to be over. Even the large array of arsenals now prevalent in Tamil films, since the days of revolver and that one automatic that they keep cocking, didn’t get my attention.

Yet, it was a good fun. Anirudh like most of his peers, belongs to those group of youngsters who are not great composers, but are capable in creating themes, and heroism surrounding soundtrack – most of which sound heavily recycled…it is peppered here liberally and may elicit some goosebumps (nope, not me….).

The Vikram sequel thing? Well, the film more than hints that it is indeed a follow-up but while the original was wholly fantasy 80s masala romp, this follows the director’s own more gritty world filled with unkempt personnel universe, connected to his previous outings.

Kamal fans will rejoice that he is back on big screen after quite long and certainly can taste all that he has to offer as pure actor (very little input in the script without doubt) and also some of the in-jokes and references to his past films (that could have been avoided if Logesh wants to keep things to his own little Tarantino-like verse).  There is a cameo at the ending which everyone knows about which, to me, was like a speed bump before even there was a proper ending. I mean, come on. Surya doing over the top baddie felt more like he was trying to do a pale imitation of his far more talented brother. This could have been avoided. - RKP 3/6/22