RetroReview: Bhairavi (1978).

If there is one constant mistake celluloid god is doing is to provide Rajini with endless stream of soon to be dead sisters. Well, three* to be exact, as far as I know. Bhairavi should be Rajini’s first dead on-screen sister (the fact that an actress who played his sister in another film died off-screen should add to the eerie factor).

Sometimes revisiting these old films, you discover a bizarre moment or two. Or in the 1978 movie, Bhairavi's case, a total WTF gem that I shall reveal later. Alongside some scientific revelation as to why Rajini switches his costume from lungi and singlet to pants and unbuttened shirts halfway through the movie. Read on to find out more…

Considering its weekend and I am lazy, here’s the synopsis I purloined from IMDB (the normal font is my addition):

Mookaiyah (Rajini) and his sister Bhairavi (Geetha) are children of a drunkard who are left to fend for themselves. After Bhairavi is lost in an accident, Mookaiyah becomes a manservant at the home of a local landlord, and grows to become the landlord's faithful crony, taking unquestioning orders from his boss. The boss, Rajalingam (Srikanth), gets Mookaiyah to abduct a young girl from a neighboring village - Bhagyam, who he proceeds to rape. Manikkam, Bhagyam's brother (Some dude), swears vengeance on Mookaiyah who gets the blame for the incident. Meanwhile a revelation is in store for Mookaiyah. Written by Joyojeet Pal (Do they make “friend” pun jokes on you, Pal?).

But first things first, does anyone use the word purloin anymore? I know it sounds like cat’s groin or something, but that’s a nice word I picked up long time ago from Poe.

Well, the synopsis end with “a revelation is in store”, and before you guys go, “what store?”, I have actually gave out the spoilers. Yes, the Bagyam in question is non other than Bhairavi, Mookaiyah’s long lost sister (In a Oedipal/Fruedian twist, Geetha would appear as Rajini’s secret admirer in his dream in Ninaittale Inikkum). So, indirectly our friend, this Mookaiyan, was responsible for her rape, and later, her death.

Now, here’s something that bugged me. Obviously Rajini is the hero, but he got second billing here after Srikanth. Probably seniority, and Srikanth himself takes a break from playing betraying sibling/son of Sivaji Ganesan and plays betraying landlord of the other Sivaji, Rajini, who plays the Mookaiyan in question here.

Aside: V.C Ganesan, who was christened Sivaji Ganesan by Periyaar, also played a Mookaiyan several years earlier in PattikAda Pattanamaa. If that is not enough to confuse you, how about the great actor playing Rajinikanth in Gouvaram, a name later adopted by budding actor Sivaji Rao Gaekwod. That’s right, go and snivel elsewhere. End of aside.

The point is Srikanth was born to betray one Sivaji or another.

Back to the film. The first part of the film is a bit dreary, with Rajini doing “yes massa” to Srikanth’s whims and fancy, and romancing Sri Priya, portions of which are quiet funny. There are comedy tracks which you can safely forward away with your remote (Surulirajan, Manorama and the always welcomed V.K. Ramasamy). Then the tragedy takes place and Rajini goes apeshit insane with vengeance.

Equally insane was Ilayaraja’s background score, literally blasting off hundreds of trumpets everytime Rajini goes on rampage (very Bond-eque, compare the track with Thunderball’s). But seriously, it gets your pulse racing and I wonder if Rajini heard the soundtrack before pummelling the bad guys. Such motivation.

Speaking of pummelling, here’s the WTF part. One fight scene ends up with lungi wearing Rajini and another lungi wearing bad guy in a fenced goat pen. Needless to say, a bunch of goats broke their bones (Sup Tulang yumm...) with Rajini and the bad guy falling on them. But then, the fight gets so intense that - and I don’t think this was scripted - Rajini grabbed one of the goats and starts to beat the shit out of the bad guy.

It was unbelievable, I had to rewind to see the spectacle again. No guess on what’s for dinner for the film crew that night.

Of course, accused of murder and rape, Mookayan is on the run, a fugitive, and this was the part where he switches his costume from Lungi and Singlet to pants and unbuttoned shirt. Unbuttoned.

I shouldn’t worry about it, but I did ponder about the reason costume switch, besides providing the costumer a second meal. And then! Holy Harrison Ford, it struck me the practicality of it all.

Now, here’s the scientific explanation. Obviously with lungi on, you can’t make long strides when running away from cops. Pants can enable you to take those lengthy strides when running away from long arms of the law. Besides, a lungi has broader per-square foot of target for police dogs to pounce on than a pair of pants.

As for the unbuttoned shirt. To quote Mr. T, I pity you fools. Imagine the same long arms of the law (does that make them a gorilla or orang-utan?), grabbing your singlet when you are on the run. But unbuttoned shirt! Not only you get to show your awesomely flat ab, but if the collar is grabbed by cop, you can let it go easily. A technique clearly borrowed from domestic lizards**.

All in all, it’s a thoroughly revisit-able film, but the downside to the film has to be the use of wrong singer for Rajini. TMS, by now, has voice thicker than Sivaji’s wigs and was totally unsuitable for Rajini. It’s like listening to Michael Jackson voiced by Elvis Presley.

As usual as with Rajini films, it’s his show. Oozing with infant version of his powerful charisma, he gets to flex his acting chops here. If only he had pursued that direction he’d be up there with Kamal as brilliant actors. Emoting his way to the climax, he showed raw energy and emotion that make us feel his pain. The best scene has to be the sad song when he visits his sister at the graveyard (Nandooruthu Nariyuruthu).

But of course, at that moment you feel like saying, “Like, dude, you were responsible for her dead?” You better not. He might grab anything he could get, and beat the crap out of you. Like a Barn Owl.

*Bhairavi, Dharma Yutham & Naan Sigappu Manithan. If I have missed others, please get them to register in Rajini’s Dead On-Screen Sisters Registry, not Rajini’s Betraying Brothers Registry or Rajini’s Betraying Landlords Registry.

**Come on, you know this. The lizards let go of the tail when is caught. And leaves the dead wiggling tail to horrify us.

Pix: Rajini in Bhairavi, with the weapon of choice, when there're no goats available.

KO: Small review

I have come to a conclusion as far as KO’s director is concerned. I think KV. Anand hates us audience.

You see after crafting a wonderful script, creating memorable characters, and perhaps even storyboarded the tight action sequences, he remembered that we would be watching, and sadistically decided to place songs at strategic places enough to get us reeling.

The man for the job, Harris Jeyaraj took it as labour of love, and armed with recyle and sampling machine, he carpetbombed the entire film gleefully with the heard before tunes, and lazy-ass background score equivalent to audio shit.

But we should forgive KV. Anand, besides the musical turd, he gave one helluva political thriller. Superb performance from the cast, especially Jeeva and Ajmal, the film moves from one event to another, and reminding us the event before and why we should have thought of it as unnecessary scene, but we didn’t because it was awesome, and yet the scenes are explained in the nicely scripted twist.

The truth is, its nice to see a protagonist in form of a photo-journalist. When was the last time we saw one? Kamal in Tik Tik Tik? In the era of social media networking, whe world of physical newspaper seemed like an odd choice to place a young protagonist, but it was perhaps what makes the film work – the old school thriller that is purely worked around newspaper headlines.

Kudos to KV Anand for such a gorgeous piece of cinema. Drop Harris next time, Anand. Or we will hate you.

Go get her, Tiger.

Recently my wife and I embarked on mini-movie marathon; films with plot involving rescuing looking for missing or kidnapped family members. It’s not that we are plotting something similar in real life, considering we are still cracking our head on whether or not to kidnap a cute stray cat near our apartment (Risk: They scratch). No, it’s just that we stumbled upon the excellent action fare Taken, with Liam Neeson embarking on a mission to rescue his kidnapped daughter, leaving behind trails of dead bodies and crashed vehicle (recipe for rescuing loved ones). Intrigued, I dug up copies of some of films with similar theme and here they are with my revisit reviews.

Commando (1985)

Tagline: Somewhere... somehow... someone's going to pay

Above pix: That’s not free-range chicken, Arnie.

Arnold Schwarzenegger (yes I can spell his name) plays a hunk of steroid laden beef on boots with passion for cigar and carrying lumber over his shoulder and this was before you get slaughtered for deforestation. He has a daughter, a young one and before you can say wait, is that Molly….she gets kidnapped. Arnie whose name in this movie is Matrix, I kid you not, is blackmailed into working with the bad guys to get his daughter back. Arnie being Arnie says screw you and goes back to get his daughter using what see

ms to qualify as weapons of mass destructions, and he carried all of them on him in the climax and by the time it ended you may have grown extra biological extension due to excessive display of testosterone (doesn’t apply to female viewers).

Here’s the trivia I found in internet on that scene, “Matrix goes into battle with an Valmet M78 light machine gun, an Uzi submachine gun, a Remington Model 870 combat shotgun and a Desert Eagle automatic pistol. He also commandeers an M60E3 belt-fed machine gun and an M16A1 assault rifle.” Yes, I heard a geek’s orgasmic cry.

Frantic (1988).

Tagline: They've taken his wife. Now he's taking action

Above pix: Wife? What wife? You free for dinner?

Harrison Ford movie with Roman Polanski behind the camera shot in the streets of Paris. Throughout the entire film Ford looked like he has a broom stuck up his ass (actually I stole this from a quote by Connery in dud Meteor, “why don’t you shtick a broom up my arsh, I’ll shweep the room on my way out”). Here, Ford loses his wife, or should I say she goes missing right before his eyes . No vanishing trick. We see him (not her) in shower, you see the wife in the background. It’s a now you see, now you don’t scene, though the pain would be to watch Ford topless.

This being a Polanski film, relied less on firear ms and more on Ford’s scowl, who never rematerialised as Hans Solo or Indiana Jones half way. Too bad, it would have been awesome, but Polanski makes cerebrally intriguing film so instead of going “awesome” on firepower, we go, “what’s Freudian about this scene”, or think about Polanski’s statutory rape case. Slow film. Okay if not for Ford’s star power. And that scowl.

Breakdown (1977)

Tagline: It could happen to you.

Above pix: I am not coming back to Disney, got it?

My favourite action star, Kurt Russell, stars not as an action movie stud but a regular bloke who loses his wife in some rundown redneck town…to a trucker to be precise. It seemed, the writer and director of this movie Jonathan Mostow got the idea for the film while driving through Las Vegas with his wife. You can quite predict what the ending he would have liked, except in the film the wife is rescued.

The film works because the suspense comes from Russell is someone you can relate to, unless you have built like Schwarzenegger or have committed statutory rape like Polanski. Russell only has his wit to use, but the climax involving the truck did turn him to action hero mode, but hey, it’s from Hollywood.

Taken (2009)

Tagline: Time is Running Out

Above pix: Err…Liam, you don’t shoot the audience. We need them, you see.

As mentioned, Liam Neeson loses his daughter and he had to get her back from some Albanian criminals. Being an ex-CIA he has instant access to technology, knows who kidnapped his daughter and goes straight to the heart of the matter in Paris. After crunching bones, shooting heads, and cutting bunch of folks, Liam gets his daughter but not without a broken arm.

In most part, the film works because if Neeson is told not to just think about his pay cheque, can act his pants off. Apparently he was told to do so and you can’t take your eyes off him, even if you can’t quite place what he was doing during the fisticuffs until you hear grunts and bones breaking.

All the four films involve the member of the opposite sex missing, the fairer one, the softer one, or should I say gals. Two wives and two daughters. That revs up the scare factor, and draws concern from the audience. Male audience want to be Arnie/Kurt/Ford/Liam while female members wish their spouses or dads were. As if.

All the four films have happy ending. Of course, it happens that way unless the lead roles are not American.

Few things cropped up in my mind after watching those films.

1. If you want Arnold to work for you, pay him shitload of money or give him a small country or something. Kidnap his daughter and now you pay lots of money for henchmen ‘s SOCSO, their widows’ compensation, and funerals don’t come cheap these days.
2. No matter how ordinary a bloke are you, when someone you love is kidnapped, you would automatically become an action star like Kurt Russell. Which means something like you hanging onto a truck which is already hanging threadbare at the edge of a bridge.
3. If you are former government agent or something, information comes to you in a jiffy, so that you can spend the rest of the time piling up dead bodies, and finally get your teenage daughter who is going to marry that boyfriend you hate anyway.
4. Arnie’s daughter? Come on…

Endhiran Audio Launch: Rajini, A.R. Rahman & Rajini.

Putrajaya International Convention Centre (PICC) is probably the easiest location to find in Malaysia. Once you have entered the Putrajaya province, there’s signboard every kilometre informing you where to turn, appearing again at every turn, every nook and corner, in your face that when you reach the place, you expect to see a sign that says, “PICC: What GPS?”.

My wife and I were there last weekend because it was the venue for the audio launch of the upcoming Tamil film Endhiran (The Robot), with soundtrack and background score by A.R. “I brought back two Oscars” Rahman, starring superstar Rajinikanth and former Miss. World, Aishwarya “I can’t act but am still in business” Rai, and directed by Shankar. The film is touted as the most expensive ever in India, costing Rs 150 crore. That’s like USD32.5 million. Or RM 103 million!

Anyway, PICC is a monstrosity of a building that looks like a cross between a flying saucer and gigantic monochrome Big Mac. Built too recent to achieve heritage status and too ugly to be featured in the background of a Bollywood dance sequence, it stands perched on a hill ready to become a victim of landslide. Driving round and round the building, we finally reached the parking spot, there were already scores of poor minority and government oppressed Malaysian Indians parking their cars, most of which easily cost double of mine, with the female specie decked in jewellery and all set to compete with Aishwarya “I married a Bachchan” Rai in the costumes department.

The show was to begin at 7.30pm, and we were there at 6.30pm, and there was already crowd and that made me worry. I had been avoiding Indian concerts for more than a decade now, and though this was an audio launch I learned that there will be singing and dancing in it and the presence of the crowd did not make me feel better. Not only I would have to sit through the dreg showcase of dances and music that are most likely not A.R. Rahman’s, but there was an Spider sense within me that there could be other potential visual hazards like the sighting of another Bachchan. All these because of my wife’s hardcore fanatic love for Rajini and admiration for A.R. Rahman (wonderful for someone who, most of her life, never listened to anything other than English and Malay); and my own fascination with them, especially for Rajini who has in the past gave us some of the finest performances in Tamizh film industry. Plus if my wife is fascinated with a dark skinned older bald man, than my marriage is in safe hands.

At around 7pm they allowed us to go up to the third floor where the Planery Hall, the launch site, is and thankfully the crowd was not unruly…that’s because the folks in charge made sure that it didn’t, making sure everyone carried his or her own invitation cards. The escalator to the three floors took forever to reach, and there was nobody to check our invites. So, this mean anyone could have reprinted the invitation card and walked in. Probably they had, because we found a couple sitting in our seats, and I am sure they are not our stand-in. Plus when the show started, there were many standing at the side and behind the last row. So much for limited seating/ticket/invite crap.

Our seat was at the left side of the hall, 8^th row from the stage. It was then 7.30pm and the red carpet moment supposedly began. You know the part in award shows where vanity soar sky high and fans forgive the recent turgid turns by the starlets because they wore an awesome dress and display ample cleavages. We the hall audience could only watch on the big screen on what’s happening outside. There were apparently the usual showcase of multi-cultural showcase, which to Malaysians is the moment where we go, “Oh no, here we go again”. I swear it was the same shtick they used when they landed the first Airbus A380 four years ago. But if it sells few more Ringgits for the tourism industry, why not?

The red carpet thing was highly forgettable as the hall audience did not receive audio in some parts. I suppose it was best, at least for my blood pressure. Soon, the stars started arriving, including the highlights of the evening, Rajini, A.R. Rahman, lyricist Vairamuthu and director Shankar. Aishwarya “I lost my makeup kit earlier” Rai was probably still blowing her nails dry. Expected bad news came in form of guests who got nothing to do with Endhiran The Robot except their acting talent in relation to the title, like Sangeetha, Simbhu and Jayam Ravi & Ramya Krishnan. Comedian Vadiveloo appears too and though he got nothing to do with the film he has the right to be there simply because he’s a comedian. No sign of Aishwarya “I follow North Indian Stars’ punctuality” Rai.

The stars themselves walked one by one down towards the front rows, with cheers and applause differing depending on who was coming. Vadiveloo walked by the aisle I was sitting, interestingly requiring assistance walking down the steps – either creaky old age or good beverage age. Rajini and A.R. Rahman got the loudest welcome, and it was not surprising. Though a quarter of that crowd did the same for Simbhu and Jayam Ravi that made it a suspect. The former beauty queen turned bad actress made almost an hour after the show was well into its way. Bravo, madam, you are the epitome of “Showuplateforattention” strategy of extending the lifeline of your career.

In the meantime, with comedian Vivek hosting, the non entities were called upon stage and predictably showered praise on the stars of the show, especially Sun Pictures and its owner Kalanidhi Maran who produced the show. Simbhu danced to a medley of Rajini songs, reminding me of the time back in 1999 when as a new actor he danced to Rajini’s song, proving very well that very much a decade since he started out, he will be doing just that, dancing to Rajini songs. In fact, speech by Vadiveloo and Maran later not so subtly hinted that there will never be another “superstar”. For those in the blur’s information, Simbhu called himself “little superstar” and now “young superstar”, that’s how pathetic it is.

The medleys were arranged for Sun Pictures and Director Shankar and their respective films. The dances made me realise the importance of an editor in a film. Tribal dance tribute for Aishwarya (no more middle name, I thank you) Rai baffled me in its relevance, and later, a bunch of Shaolin monks, having lost favour in Hong Kong films, did their stuff – one was so impressive (back flip with mili-second stand on the floor with head, whoa!) that Rajini gotup and clapped.

Speaking of whom, as it was difficult to see the superstar eight rows behind, wife asked how we can spot him. I said, “oh, easy, look for a baldy.” My arm is still aching as I type this.

By now, boredom was creeping in, and only Vivek’s easy rapport with the audience helping a little bit, a harmless chuckle here and there, knowing very well that comedian’s once rip-roaring, thigh slapping jokes are now reduced those eliciting lots of cringes and groans.

Then, things brightened up when audio launch was announced. The luminaries were brought to the stage, and some gimmick was prepared where they were supposed to plant their palms on screen and once complete, launch a CD. The usual blast of music, followed by firecracker thing and and the CD came out. Photo op moment, then the stars back to their seat. And this was only half the event.

Later we were shown the first worldwide release of trailer. It looked part awesome (scenes with Rajini), part troubling (all visual effects ones) as images of past Hollywood films flashed by my mind, and the effects looked creaky in some parts. The robot Rajini looks cheeky and I have a feeling is going to steal the show and would be spoke about later. But who knows. Visually impressive for an Indian film, but if they keep comparing it with Hollywood as almost everyone on this stage did, then this is basically Vin Diesel material as far as trailer is concerned. More trailers on songs and one on making of confirms that we can expect some half-baked effects, and top notch performance from Rajini.

The songs were introduced one by one, and except for Arima Arima, I was impressed with none. More dancing, speeches by AR Rahman (short and sweet), Vairamuthu (luckily, not overboard), Shankar (pre-Oscar thanking that would have made Cuba Goodings Jr. proud). He was followed by Aishwarya who thanked everyone except Rajini. Oh wait, she ran back giving a lame excuse of “saving the best for the last”. Gee woman, you said thank you already and was sighted by the hall audience and the TV viewers leaving. Best for the last, my ass!

More songs and finally the moment we have been waiting for, Rajini himself on stage. Looking resplendent in blue striped shirt and black pants (as opposed to the usual dull white & white), he took time to start waiting for the cheering, whistling and the restless audience to settle down. Then, the typical Rajini stage persona takes over. Brushing aside his contribution, he praised everyone else, but he must have been surprised that the folks were only interested to see him and hear his voice. Why? At one part where he gave his trademark laugh, the crowd went wild!

My wife said she had goose bumps watching and hearing him. I would probably feel the same when it comes to the late Sivaji Ganesan or Clint Eastwood. But watching the man who gave countless hours of fun on big and small screen, I suddenly realised that he was there all my life. Second year into my life he made his debut and here he is, still in top position in Indian cinema, and still is entertaining kids and adults alike, aiming to give the best entertainment possible to audiences world over. I can’t explain this feeling, which I suspect, would resurface if I get to see Kamal Haasan in person. After almost more than four hour plus of boring dances, pathetic jokes, droning speeches, clichéd launch (was a trade/business journalist, I’ve seen a lot), and overdone backslapping, Rajini’s short appearance calmed me down, energised me and made me pardon all the downside of the show, except Aishwarya.

Once the show was over, we had difficulties getting to our car park, and found ourselves outside where the VIP cars were waiting. Only when the big shots are wheeled out of the PICC would they open up the doors to car park, and this totally ruined my mood. So, we waited and lo and behold, another Rajini sighting. This time, he walked exactly like how he did in the films, brisk with some followers trying to catch up, only, instead of heroic frown, he smiled and waved to everyone. That image stuck in my mind. Driving way past midnight back home, not even wanting to stop by for a quick bite despite the fact that we were held inside the hall for almost five hours without food or drink, I said to my dazed wife, “Okay, it was worth it”.

Tamizh Film Review: Ravanan

While driving back, I was thinking of Vikram’s performance in the new much awaited Mani Rathnam film, Ravanan. The gestures, the facial expression, the way he tilts his head and gaze, the roll of the eyes, the screams, the yell, the shout, the whisper….I was impressed, but something hit me. I have seen that before, and it was in a modest little film called Thambi and Madhavan utilised this higher-gear style of performance and it went on under appreciated. Since Ravanan is a big budgeted film helmed by who is perceived as one of the best Indian filmmaker, they will be dolling out awards to Vikram. Madhavan’s is still the best and most daring to me (considering the mediocrity of his film), but Vikram did well and should be one of the main reasons to watch Ravanan.

The other reasons? For one, the film is a visual feast for viewers. Fantastic cinematography, amidst the forest, and some wonderful action sequences should be the reason why you should start booking the ticket if you haven’t seen it already. The climactic bridge fight alone should make you sit through the movie till the end. Mani Rathnam hardly disappoint us when it comes to delivering fantastic sight and sound feast and he is not compromising it now.

Also to be noted is the performances of the supporting casts. Prabhu is well utilised, but being a fan I wished they had shown a lot more of him. For example, during a key point, Vikram is shown grieving, but the incident should also affect Prabhu who is Vikram’s brother. Nope, only focus on Vikram. And then, I realised this, showing a grieving Prabhu means eating Vikram for breakfast, lunch, tea, dinner and that midnight trip to the fridge. That man is that good. But never mind.

Also, it’s nice to see Karthik back in full form, the man has never aged the last fifteen years and his physical fitness is well used, as well as his sense of comic timing. Pritviraj fits in well as a cop with dark side, and Priyamani shows up in flashback (the key incident I mentioned) and proves again why she is one of the finest actress of our time.

Which brings us to what was supposed to be the central part of the film – the heroine. Played by Aishwarya Rai, she again raised the question I had in my mind almost a decade ago: “Why is she still in the industry? What have I missed? Isn’t she easily one of the worst actress around?”. Here the filmmakers intent was, no matter how dirty, and messed up she is physically, make sure you get the makeup right. Anytime she rolls over the mud, falls into pit, she comes out still looking like she had just walked off the Miss World stage. Her character needs our empathy and I had a lot more sympathy for the transvestite character played by Vaiyapuri than her. She alone would have ruined the entire film if not for the redeeming factors I mentioned. It would have been wonderful if it was Priyamani playing that role instead.

Also, while the background score was awesome by the ever impressive A.R. Rahman, can they get him to lower his workload. There’s blaring music almost all the time, and with such gorgeous location, I would have loved to hear the sound of the forest a lot more, the trees branches swishing, the birds tweeting, the macaque screaming. I don’t remember any of that. Guys, ARR is great, but it doesn’t mean that you spread his music like a thick lather of jam over the bread.

There are loopholes in the script, and sometimes the dialogue gets heavy handed that you just don’t bother trying to understand the characters motivation and intent. Get your eyes feasted and walk out satisfied that it was worth the tickets, coke and pop-corn you spent on. Not the best Mani Rathnam effort, and not his worst. But definitely needs a visit in the big screen.

Pazhassi Raja review

*Contains spoiler, which is actually cliché of these kinda films, so I warned you*

Somewhere in the middle of the big budget Mallu film called Pazhassi Raja, the name of the leader of the freedom fighters out to oust the East India Company, was the scene all the purveyors of this kind of films waiting for. Speech time. Scriptwriters and the lead actors die for this kind of scene that will elevate them into god-like status within the films context, therefore making us, viewers, to follow them, laugh with them, cry with them, and die with them as these kind of martyrs usually do on screen.

Sitting erect on the horse, looking at his thousands of soldiers, Pazhassi Raja, played by Malayalam superstar, Mammootty, must have said about three short sentences with the urgency of a man who’s missing his breakfast. That’s it.

Anything lost during the speech time was made up with visual spectacle in this motion pitcure that attempts to reach for the sky, though it made halfway through Mount Kilimanjaro. It has ambition, but limited mechanism. It had voice, but was trifle muffled. It had vision, but as Paul Newman says in Butch Cassidy, “boy I have vision; the rest of the world wears bifocals”. In this case, thinner lens.

Yes, there is something amiss about this big budgeted Malayalam venture. No rallying cry that almost invites viewers participation? The clunky battle sequences with overzealous wire-pullers? Or the sequence itself that seemed to be inspired from the Ewoks episode of Star Wars?Could it be the rude interruption of intimate scenes between the hero and the heroines accompanied by Ilayaraja’s song that seemed to be dug up from the 90s? Or overall cut & paste feel of the background score that does nothing much to elevate important scenes? I can’t quite place it.

But there are still plenty of reasons to like the film. The cinematography, for instance. Shot mostly in the forest, and occasionally on sets, almost every frame looks like framed photographs. There was one particular shot of a horse coming out of the river that was simply riveting. In the Tamizh version that I watched, the opening had Kamal Haasan lending a voice over, his voice crackling with emotion reading some historical text, which I felt was unnecessary considering the Indian cinema is usually generous with expositions.

One thing that will be remembered is the performances of the Indian actors. While the ones playing English were less than amateurs, it looked like whatever they saved from paying the whites, were used to pay top notch stars from South India. Mamooty, who has the right commanding presence, and lends nobility and dignitiy, and not to mention, intelligence to his role, where, unlike other freedom fighter heroes you have watched (Veerapandiya Kattabomman [VPK], remember?), Pazhassi is more of a master strategist and trainer, than a warrior himself. The surprise was Tamizh actor, Sarath Kumar, who was very, very effective as Pazhassi’s commander-in-chief, looked great in the warrior get-up and was never the usual wooden self. In fact, my wife kept saying that Sarath should have played Pazhassi in the Tamil version again and again until I threatened a gag order.

One thing for sure, the film didn’t feel long. The script moved on, tracking all the main characters and their activities and finally leading to a clichéd finale where the hero goes by himself and get slain; we see that from the time of VPK to Hollywood’s Gladiator. True, it may be based on history, but they could have stopped the film somewhere rather than showing the heroic death. In VPK, the death of the lead was unbearable, no thanks to just concluded fiery speech by the doomed king. In Pazhassi Raja, you were just waiting for that to happen, especially considering there were no fiery speeches anywhere.

Pazhassi Raja is watchable thanks to the lead actors and wonderful cinematography. Other than that, it’s up to you…