Vidamuyarchi (2025)

Vidamuyarchi has one big issue: it’s an unofficial remake of the 1997 Kurt Russell starrer, Breakdown. At least the first half. So, it’s not a fresh story telling…again..which is an affliction when it comes to watching Tamizh language films. Or content. Originality is not this industry’s forte.

The second half, otherwise, is a mish mash of many thrillers out there. But there are two points that keep us riveted:

1. Ajith Kumar. The man carries the film no matter whatever plot holes or pure dumbassery occurring on the screen – he gave the film a touch of class and gloss.

2. Lack of Trisha. She’s the main heroine all right, but with her character ‘s disappearance being the central plot, this queen of frozen faced performance is only seen at the beginning, the bloody flashbacks and towards the end. Yippee!

We have Arjun as the chief bad guy, but I still haven’t bought him as a hero, much less a baddie now. But Arjun is in the right territory, Hollywood purloined action flicks – which used to be his playground during the leading man days.

Then there are some henchmen, you know, the current crop of yesterday’s beard and cropped hair fashion statement.

Leaving aside Ajith and Arjun, the rest delivered their best mega serial inflected performances. Though I can’t say the same of those actors playing Azerbaijanis (is that how you call ‘em?) whom seemed to be pretty comfortable in their terrains, giving our hero tough time.

The story of ordinary guy getting entangled in extraordinary situation in cinemas got its prominence from the Buster Keaton days….we have since accustomed to this central plot. We have not been told how (despite gazillions of flashback that needed to be told here because most Indian filmmakers treat us audience as dumbfucks) Ajith suddenly has the resourcefulness and punchability, but Kurt Russell did get heroic at the end of Breakdown. So, fair is fair, I didn’t question his character there and I am not going to do the same with Ajith kicking assess.

In fact that is the best part of the film, director Magizh Thirumeni has a knack for action sequences. There was a good long sequence towards the climax which could have been a great thrill and fun if it was not ruined by Anirudh’s pathetic song plus background score or whatever shit you call it.

Last few words about Ajith Kumar. I always compared him to Steve McQueen -a superstar who was also a fantastic actor with great screen presence. And yes, McQueen was a car racer too. I went to this flick just to watch Ajith and for that reason alone, I am not disappointed.

Update: Apparently makers of Breakdown got to know about the plot similarities after the film was into production...and Vidaamuyarchi producers paid for the rights as is said in this link. Yet, I didn't see the original writer credited.

Tamil School Pasanga (2024)

 

The last time I watched a Malaysian-made Tamil film, I was a guest at the launch and the premiere. It took plenty of diplomatic skill to criticise it while ensuring I sprinkle it with chocolate and nuts on it to sweeten the overall read. The producer and director managed to overlook the needle pricks.

This time, I voluntarily stepped into the theatre (didn't buy popcorn, sugar issues, dammit) and was curious as to how far the Malaysian Indian film scene has come since then.

Well, as expected, the film started slow and somewhat confidently wiggled its way into the halftime, really sure that the audience would still plant their butts on the seats. But what the hell, the scenes were charming and, well, kept the few audience members in the Rawang LFS cinema plant their butts on their respective seats.

There's something about not overstaying the welcome feel throughout the film. The story is very familiar if you have watched the older Hollywood flicks like To Sir With Love or Dead Poets Society, or the amalgamated copy, Nammavar, in Tamil. A teacher comes to a school that needs some sort of rehabilitation. He does do that, but not without challenges and resistance, and how he gets over it would form the rest of the narrative.

This film follows the formula to the T, but the difference is that, in doing so, it tackles many issues facing the Tamil schools in the country and predicaments afflicting the Malaysian Indians in general. The filmmaker tried his best to skillfully blend many of these issues into the narration; some felt very relevant, and some—somehow—felt like they were force-fed and could have been left out.

But this is not to say the story went left field or something. The characters, at least the main ones, do keep us intrigued, with all the actors, from the lead, played by co-producer Denes Kumar (well known among the Malaysian Indian content followers), right down to the little ones, being good and adequate, and even if at times the performances look amateur, you are involved enough to dismiss any sign of weaknesses.

And this is also the first time I ever got emotional watching a Malaysian flick (bar the earlier P. Ramlee features, but that's another story)... it will hit you hard, that scene. I wish it could be avoided, sort of something most lazy directors would resort to in order to get the attention towards the climax—but I suppose it is needed in this film.

I am also glad that the romance angle is not explored too keenly, or it would have lost the focus. Neat, tidy script (despite the lag in the beginning and some not-so-great comedy materials), a not-too-rushed pacing, and, as mentioned, able performances from all around make this a good viewing. The only issue I had was the quality of the picture, which kind of switches now and then from really good to grainy. Well, it was not bothering me.

If I were the great critic Roger Ebert, I would definitely give it two and a half thumbs up...if such a thing is possible.

Dongeng Sang Kancil (2024)

 

Remember the beloved Sang Kancil and its escapades, using purely wits and wisdom, going through the challenges, obstacles cunningly and ending up a brilliant victor? In folklore, these characters are known as tricksters, you would see them in Brer Rabbit of Uncle Tom's Cabin – an African American folklore, Puss In Boots himself and many human/god characters like Loki or Prometheus. Even the Indians have Thenali Raman

Well, Sang Kancil was our answer, our equivalent to those characters.

And the Sang Kancil of this film is not it!

I hardly saw any wit and wisdom from this famed mouse-deer. This Sang Kancil, is out for blood after seeing his mother killed by some dark force (like literally). It's out for vengeance and that is what the plot of this whole damned film about. There are hardly any showcase of brilliant, and often hilarious wits and wisdom that we expect from the Sang Kancil that I talked about earlier

This one is a bloodthirsty sonofabitch who would trick anyone to get his way and not in any means that can be evaluated as being clever or brilliant. He is just good strategist, that's about it.

And the level of bloodthirstiness. This 2.5D(?) animation is filled blood and gore. Yes, you actually see pool of blood among the bodies (especially the poor rabbits) strewn over, The bad buys (a panther) is portrayed as vicious, violent and vile – the film-makers went a bit overboard to portray him as the sadistic most meanest mofo in the flick, hell-bent in taking over the jungle (there is a colonialism subtext going on, or I am reading too much into the film?).

The animation is fine, by Malaysian standard at least, though it seems that they did borrow heavily from the Disney stock characters and peppered it with some Anime stuff. The battle scenes are pretty well done, I especially liked the fight between the panther and the crock – quite intense actually - until of course, when it gets gory.

Yet, very few characters are memorable. The lead baddie, the panther would probably the deadliest bad guy in the history of Malaysian cinema. Most would like the old Sifu character, a squirrel that's pretty nifty with footwork and was probably funny in three occasions. The rest are forgettable (oh, I also like the fact that in the crocodile gang, the animators included variations, like including alligators and gharials as well). 

Things could have sailed smoothly but for the climactic battle that got too violent, too gory and too bloody for a film of this nature – it received a P12 classification – meaning kids below 12 can watch it with parents' guidance. Well, I tell ya this – some can be traumatised seeing the cute fluffy animals' body strewn with blood all over the place. The rating is wrong. The film-makers didn't know where to draw the line.

Plus the voice acting is still at the RTM Drama Minggu Ini or, those early days dubbed Japanese animation standard. Pretty poor, I tell ya. But our country is not abundant with great onscreen talents, and I am sure it reflects on the behind the scene ones too. What to do. We do lots of biting more than what we can chew in this industry.

Finally, it makes sad that they did not adapt fully the actual Sang Kancil mythology to the screen. It would have been an awesome entertainment, instead of some dark Snyder-verse influenced shit they came up with here. Sad.