தாரகையே பாவனா,
உன் பற்றி கவிதை எழுதுமா என் பேனா?!
திரையுலகில் உண்டு ஏற்கனவே ஒரு மீனா,
அவருக்கு சரியான போட்டி இனி நீதானா?!
உன்னை ஒரு நாள் நேரிலே சந்திப்பேனா?
“மேடம், சூப்பர் உங்க படம்” என்று புகழ்வேனா?
இல்லை வெறும் வெள்ளித்திரையில் மட்டும் பார்ப்பேனா?
தினம் தினம் காண்பேனா ஒரு பகல் கனா?
உன்னை நேரில் காணும் ஆசையெல்லாம் போகுமா வீணா?!
கடந்த மூன்றாண்டுகளில் அவ்வப்போது சர்ச்சைக்குரிய கருத்துக்களை வெளியிட்ட போதிலும் , இந்த BPO எனப்படும் கால் சென்டர் விஷயத்தில் மத்திய சுகாதார அமைச்சர் சொல்லியிருப்பது நூற்றுக்கு நூறு உண்மை! சொல்லப் போனால் அவர் சொன்னது கொஞ்சம், எவரையும் புண்படுத்த வேண்டாமென்று சொல்லாமல் விட்டது மிக அதிகம்!
கால் சென்டர்களை ஆதரிப்பவர்களின் தரப்பு வாதம் என்னவென்றால்
“ எந்த ஒரு நன்மையும் சமூகத்தில் காலடி எடுத்து வைக்கும் போது கூடவே நாலு தீமையும் நுழையத்தான் செய்யும் ! நாம்தான் ஜாக்கிரதையாக இருக்க வேண்டுமே தவிர ஒரேயடியாக அந்த நன்மைக்கே முட்டுக்கட்டை போடுவது கடைந்தெடுத்த பத்தாம் பசலித் தனம் !” ‘பழையன கழிதலும் புதியன புகுதலும் ’ வரவேற்க வேண்டியவையே என்று நம் பெரியவர்களே சொல்லவில்லையா ?’ “Work hard, Party hard! (கடினமாக உழை ! மிகக் கடினமாக பார்ட்டி கொண்டாடு !) என்ற கொள்கை உடையவர்கள் இந்தத் துடிப்பு மிகு இளைஞர்கள் ! இதில் என்ன தவறு? இரண்டு மூன்று தலைமுறை பழசாய்ப் போனவர்களெல்லாம் பொறாமையில் மூக்கைச் சிந்தி ஒப்பாரி வைக்கலாமா ?”
மேலெழுந்தவாரியாக நியாயம் போல் தோன்றும் இந்த வாதங்களில் பூசி மெழுகப்படும் விஷ(ய)ங்களை நாம் கூர்ந்து நோக்க வேண்டும் ! வேலைக்குச் சேர்ந்த முதல் மாதத்திலேயே , தன் தந்தையின் மாத சம்பளத்தை விட அதிகம் வாங்கும் ஒரு பையனோ பெண்ணோ , சற்று மிதப்புடன் இருப்பது புரிந்து கொள்ளக் கூடியதுதான் ! ஓரிரு வருடங்களில் சரியாய்ப் போய் விடக்கூடிய ஒரு சில்லறைக் குற்றம்தான் ! ஆனால் , வார இறுதியில் கொண்டாடப் படும் week end பார்ட்டிகள்தான் இந்த BPO க்களின் மாபெரும் சாபக்கேடு ! சிகரெட் , மது (பொதுவாக பீர் , பல சமயங்களில் விஸ்கி , ரம் எனக் கொள்க !) என்றால் இயல்பாகவே நம் பெண்களுக்குள்ள அருவருப்பு , வெறுப்பு , அச்சம், கூச்சம் , தயக்கம் அத்தனையையும் குண்டுக்கட்டாகத் தூக்கி வங்காள விரிகுடாவில் வீசிய புண்ணியத்தை இந்தக் கால் சென்டர்கள் தேடிக் கொண்டுள்ளன ! இந்திய (குறிப்பாகத் தமிழ் ) சமூகத்தில் கடந்த பல நூறு ஆண்டுகளாக நெறிகளில் மெல்ல மெல்ல ஏற்பட்ட சீரழிவை , நான்கைந்து வருடங்களிலேயே அசுரத்தனமாக மிஞ்சிக் காட்டிய பெருமையும் இவற்றையே சாரும் ! புகை , பீர் மற்றும் ரம் , விஸ்கி போன்றவை தண்ணீர் போலப் புழங்கும் ஒரு சூழலில் , ஆண்கள் பெரும்பாலானோர் தன் வயம் இழந்த சூழ்நிலையில் , திருமணம் ஆகாத பெண்கள் வளைய வருவது மேல்தட்டு வர்க்கத்துக்கு வேண்டுமானால் சரிப்பட்டு வரலாம் ! என்னதான் கை நிறைய சம்பாதித்தாலும் இந்தப் பெண்ணுக்கு நல்ல மண வாழ்க்கை அமைய வேண்டுமே என்ற அக்கறையுள்ள மத்யமர்களுக்கு எந்நாளும் ஒத்து வராது !
மறைந்த எழுத்தாளர் சுஜாதா ஒருமுறை எழுதியது போல் ‘நம் ஆட்களுக்கு அளவாகக் குடிக்கவும் தெரியாது !’ இன்றுதான் உலகின் கடைசி நாள் என்பது போல் அரக்கத் தனமாகக் கொண்டாடப் படும் இந்த வார இறுதிப் பார்ட்டிகளில் பெண்கள் பலரும் குடித்து விட்டு ‘அவுட் ’ ஆகி விழுவதும் , ‘கால் சென்டரில் இதெல்லாம் சகஜமப்பா !’ என்று சில தடியன்கள் அவர்களை ‘க்வாலிஸ் ’ வண்டியில் தூக்கி வந்து வீட்டில் பெற்றோரிடம் நடு நிசியில் தள்ளி விட்டுப் போவதும் எத்தனையோ வீடுகளில் நடக்கின்றன ! காலையில் அதே பெண் எழுந்து , தேள் கொட்டிய திருடனாய் இருக்கும் பெற்றோர் மற்றும் சகோதர சகோதரிகளிடம் தன் உரிமைகளைப் பற்றி ஆவேசமாய் சர்ச்சை செய்வதையும் கண்கூடாகப் பார்க்க முடிகிறதே ! பெண்களின் ஒழுக்க உணர்வு தளர்ந்தால் சமூகம் குட்டிச் சுவராக சில பத்தாண்டுகளே போதுமே ! பொருளாதார மேதைகள் நமக்குக் காட்டும் ரசவாதமான 10% GDP வளர்ச்சிக்கு நாம் கொடுத்துத் தொலைக்க வேண்டிய விலை இது என்று புறந்தள்ளி விட்டுப் போக முடியுமா பண்பாட்டின் இந்த அதல பாதாளச் சீர்கேட்டை ? நாளை சமூகத்தை மீட்டெடுக்க எத்தனை மகான்கள் முயன்றாலும் முடியுமா ? துரதிர்ஷ்டவசமாக , இது போன்ற சமுதாயச் சிக்கல்களுக்கெல்லாம் ‘RESET’ பட்டன் இன்னமும் கண்டு பிடிக்கப் படவில்லையே !!!
(வடக்கு வாசல் நவம்பர் 2007 இதழில் சில சிறிய மாற்றங்களோடு வெளி வந்தது)
கவிஞர் வாலி
கற்பனைத் திறனில் இவர் ஒர் ஆழி
இன்னும் நூறாண்டு வாழி!
நீயும்தான் வாழ்த்தேன் தோழி!
படித்தோம் நாம் இராமாயணத்து
வல்லவன் வாலி
மறைந்துதான் தாக்கினான்
காவியத் தலைவன் இராமனே அன்று
பார்க்கிறோம் இன்று நாம் கவிஞர் வாலி
மறைந்தோ மறையாமலோ
தெரிந்தோ தெரியாமலோ
குறிவைத்தோ வைக்காமலோ
யாரும் தாக்க முடியுமா இவரை?
காலம் தேய்க்க முடியுமா இவர் புகழை?
சினிமா விரும்பி
(சமீபத்தில் வெப்துனியா தமிழில் வெளி வந்தது )
I take the liberty of safely assuming that Mahakavi Bharathiyaar and Puratchik Kavignar Bharathidasan were not aware of this ‘glorious’ tradition of celebrating Valentine’s Day! Still, they wrote on love passionately and in a captivating manner as seen from the samples below:
Bharathiyaar in Kannamma en Kaathali:
sAththiram pEsukiRAy kaNNammA sAththiram Ethukkadi?
Aththiram koNdavarkkE kaNNammA sAththiram uNdOdi?
mUththavar sammathiyil vathuvai muRaikaL pinpu seyvOm
kAththiruppEnOdI! ithu pAr kannaththu muththam onRu!
You talk of Shastras, Kannamma! Why does one need them anyway?
Do Shastras matter, Kannamma, to one who is in a hurry, is desperate?
If elders permit, we’ll take care of the nuptial formalities later on,
Why should I wait my dear, look there’s a kiss on your cheek here!
Bharathidasan in one of his works:
maNpiRappE kaathalenil maRuppethaRku? kattuppaadethaRku?
When the birth of the world is hinged on love, why the refusals? Why the regulations?
In my opinion, these two verses are soaked in the spirit of Valentine. I am sure, a more patient and detailed research into the works of these two and other Tamil poets will yield many more such pearls!
Cinema Virumbi
(Published in Zine5.com during Valentine’s Day in Feb 08)
Just about everything that can be said about ‘Dasavatharam’ has been said in reviews in the net. Since I am a little late, I will try to add a few of my own observations.
The first thing that struck me when I saw the film was that Kamal must have been influenced in his teens by MGR’s all time hit ‘ulagam suRRum vaaliban’. But then ‘U Su Vaa’ had four heroines, plenty of lilting duets, many villains, Nagesh’s comedy and the breathtaking visuals of Japan (Expo 70) and the Asia Pacific, whereas the ‘non-stop –chase- within- 5 -days’ format of ‘Dasavatharam’ doesn’t permit him to have even one duet with Asin!
The first ten minutes of 12th century Rangaraja Nambi are superb! (though I doubt if Kulothunga Chola really did this cruel act). Napoleon, Asin , Kamal’s acting and dialogues, Hariharan’s voice, the lyrics by Kavignar Vaali and music - just about everything falls into place, making you long for more. Kamalji, when are you going to take up your dream project ‘ Kalki’s Ponniyin Selvan’?
After Rangaraja Nambi, the role I liked most was that of Fletcher. Anyone who is not an avid watcher of Tamil films will mistake him for a real American actor. The sheer ruthlessness of this character has to be seen to be believed! Boy! I lost count of the number of people he killed in the film!
As many have mentioned in their reviews, one does not really require all the ten avtars in the story, the most avoidable add-ons being Khalifulla Khan and George Bush. What does Khan do other than just appearing tall on screen like a circus clown on stilts? You’ll be immediately tempted to compare this with the inimitable dwarf of ‘aboorva sagotharargal’ and the disappointment will be huge. Kamal has tried to keep one tall avtar just for correlation with the mythical Trivikrama. In the process, even veterans like Nagesh and KR Vijaya have got wasted. The movie appears disjointed in places. Someone in the movie hall commented “ padam adikkadi maaRudhuppaa! reNdu mooNu vERa vERa padam paarkkaRa maadhiri irukku!”
It is difficult to imagine a Tamil film today without either of the comedians Vadivelu and Vivek. Kamal makes it up with his brilliant comedy as CBI officer Balram Naidu. On occasions, his dialogue delivery reminds you of the late Baliah. All the comic dialogues in the film (after throwing away his cellphone in somebody else’s car to avoid being tracked by the villain , Govind Kamal tells his friend ‘inimEl avanukkup pidichchudhu saniyan’; Balram Naidu comments on Khan’s height, ‘yEmpaa lighthousu! ENi maadhiri irukkiyE un pEr enna Bin Ladderaa?)’ have a solid Crazy Mohan flavour, though Kamal is credited for dialogues in the titles. Naidu’s punchline ‘When a Telugu settled in Chennai like me can speak fluent (!) Tamil, why are you, a Tanjorean , speaking stubbornly in English? This way , how do you expect Tamil to grow?’ slaps many a Tamil straight on his/ her face.
Dalit leader Vincent Bhoovaragan’s Malayalam loaded southern dialect and the revolutionary poems recited by his assistant (courtesy: Kavignar Vairamuthu??) are very authentic. The make ups of Krishnaveni paatti, Khan and to some extent Bhoovaragan are shoddy, reminding you of Ajit’s super duper flop ‘Citizen’. At times I wonder, when Kamal’s original face is totally suppressed in a mask, as in the case of the Japanese Shingen Narahashi ( a clever juggling of the name Narasimha!) where, even the eyes don’t betray Kamal, what charm is there for a diehard Kamal fan to watch the role? It is as good as performed by another artiste. The climax fight sequence between Fletcher and Narahashi is simply mind boggling!
I think most people are being unfair to the music director Himesh Reshammiya. My rating of his song’s are: 1. Kallai mattum 2. ulaga naayaganE 3. Mukundaa, Mukundaa . Stay away from the remix number of ‘Oh! Oh! Sanam!’ sung by Himesh himself (only in the album, not picturised) if you are particular about Tamil pronunciation by singers! Background score by Devi Sri Prasad is racy, enhancing the quality of the chases by leaps and bounds. Kavignar Vaali shines in his forte of Vaishnavism in ‘Kallai mattum’ and ‘Mukundaa, Mukundaa’ while Kavignar Vairamuthu excels in ‘ulaga naayaganE’.
Normally, Sardarjis in Tamil films speak either Hindi or a funny Tamil. In Dasavatharam, for authenticity, Kamal, as the Indipop singer Avtar Singh and Jayaprada have spoken Punjabi. Thank god, he didn’t resort to his oft- repeated
Madras Bhaashai this time for any of the roles! And why did Kamal have to choose the long forgotten Jayapradha when any of today’s heroines would have been an ideal match for Avtar? Is it because he wanted to recreate the ‘Salangai Oli’ magic ? Asin has done a pretty decent job as the 12th century Kodhai and the effervescent Iyengar girl Aandaal from Chidambaram.
It is very thoughtful of Kamal (or the director KS Ravikumar) to have named the monkey (cute!) in the genetics laboratory as Hanu.
There is zero glamour in the film, in spite of the much hyped Mallika Sherawat. She was any day more glamorous in her earlier films!
One final sentence: Forget all the hype, forget chaos theory and butterfly effect, forget the debate on whether the film is ‘World Class’ or not- just go, enjoy the film by surrendering yourself to the entertainment that ‘ulaga nayagan’ provides you. You’ll come out appreciating his hard work and courage to experiment!
In the initial scenes Sathyaraj’s ‘loLLu’ style perfectly suits the teasing/ sarcastic style of Periyar! In the second half, Sathyaraj excels in faithfully reproducing the voice, pronunciation and body language of Periyar. To say that he has lived as Periyar in this portion will amount to repeating something already mentioned by many (kooRiyathu kooRum kuRRam, as they say in Tamil!!!!). The depth of the soulful friendship between Periyar and Rajaji has been brought out well in the movie.
Because of her star value and the controversy created about her playing Maniyammai’s role when the shooting of the film started, Khushboo has got larger publicity. Otherwise, in the film, Jyothirmayee who plays Nagammai has a bigger role than Khushboo playing Maniyammai. Periyar had maintained his anti- Brahmin policies consistently till his demise. This particular aspect has been toned down substantially in the film. One can notice the extra care taken by the director, Mr Gnana Rajasekharan in not offending any sensibilities, especially that of Brahmins and the believers. Kudos to him!
Compared to the strong portrayal of Periyar’s anti- religion, anti- caste and anti- God policies, it can easily be said that his anti- North Indian domination and anti-Hindi policies have not been touched upon at all in the movie. It is well known that Periyar was in the beautiful habit of addressing even kids as ‘Vaanga! POnga!’ in plural which conveys respect in Tamil. This appreciable aspect of his personality has been recorded well throughout the movie. In the scene where he offers his van to a Brahmin lady when she is suffering from labour pain in a car stranded in rain, his humanism is displayed and in the scene where some people throw sandals toward him when he is traveling in a cycle rickshaw, his sense of humour and his famous thrifty nature are etched on screen { When these people throw one sandal at him and go into hiding, he challenges them by uttering his popular anti-God sentences (kadavuL illai! kadavuL illavE illai!….) from the top of the rickshaw and makes sure that they throw the other sandal also at him! His logic is “ After all, it’s a new pair of sandals and what can either of us do with only one sandal each?!!}
Vidyasagar’s music is excellent! Especially the ‘ jameen ezhudhik kodu seemaanE’ song! Because the film is on ‘Periyar’, even glamour girl Ragasiya’s dance scene has been shot in a dignified manner! Shabhash! By stubbornly turning down the offer on a platter to compose music for this film, I would be tempted to think that Isaignani Ilaiyaraja has let go one golden opportunity to compose music for a film like this! Vairamuthu’s lyrics are simply superb! In particular, in the song ‘KadavuLaa nee Kallaa? ’, the lines ‘neengaL mattum, neengaL mattum vindhu vizhunthu piRanthavargaL! naangaL mattum, naangaL mattum echchil vizhunthaa piRanthavargaL?’ ( You people were born out of a drop of sperm while we were born out of a drop of spit, were we?!!) slap the core theme of the film on your face in just one line! In fact, all the Vaikkom agitation scenes shot in Kerala are a visual treat!
Another plus point of the movie is its choice of actors/ actresses! Mahatma Gandhi, Moodharignar Rajaji, Dr. Ambedkar, Perunthalaivar Kamaraj, ARignar Anna, MakkaL Thilagam MGR, Puratchik Kavignar Bharathidasan, NadigavEL MR Radha, Thiru. Vi.Ka, Maniyammaiyar, Thi.Ka. leader K.Veeramani, why, even Rettaimalai Srinivasan, Va.VE.Su. Iyer, Madhiyazhagan, Naavalar Nedunchezhiyan, and PEraasiriyar Anbazhagan have come out as faithful as Madame Tussaud wax models on the screen! In 1967, after the historic victory of DMK, ARignar Anna meets Periyar in his house in Trichy and takes a tumbler of coffee offered to him by Maniyammai. This scene, where they meet after 18 years of bitterness, is really touching! The other two scenes that bring tears in the viewers’ eyes are: one where a dead hungry Periyar is denied food on caste considerations at a choultry in
Banaras and the other when Nagammai dies at a rather young age, when Periyar is away on one of his public meetings!
However, there’s one jarring element in the film- the lines comparing Sita with the squirrel , believed by Hindus to have the three lines on its back drawn by Lord Rama himself! If this stray line is deleted, the film can not only be viewed with the whole family but even recommended as a lesson in rationalism/ self respect / courage in schools and colleges! On the whole, ‘Hats off to Gnana Rajasekharan!’ for giving a top class film to the Tamil viewers, who were starving for one classic for a long time now!!!
Cinema Virumbi
Rajni’s 80’s superhit ‘Pollaathavan’ has lent its name to the fledgling actor- Son in law!!
The film showcases the criminal underbelly of Chennai in such a chilling manner that it becomes repulsive at times! Some examples are stolen bikes wrapped neatly in plastic sheets and buried a few inches below ground level inside a hut, to be transported stealthily in trailers to states as distant as Assam, the casual usage of ‘pOtturu’ and ‘pOttuth thaLLu’ to refer to contract killing, a ‘professionally’ immature younger brother (Ravi, played by Daniel Balaji) killing his own elder brother Dada (Selvam, played by Kishore Kumar) as he prevents him from settling scores with the hero etc., (Selvam has a sound logic that you can kill as part of your ‘profession’ but killing a common ‘public’ for personal revenge is a clear No! No!!!)
Characters which stand out, in spite of small roles, are Dada Selvam’s wife Anju , his trusted lieutenant ‘Outtu’ and Dhanush’s father (Murali of Malayalam films). The scene where Anju wails and slaps Selvam’s dead body and orders his subordinates to go for all out revenge for his murder is worth remembering! ‘Outtu’ is another character etched very meticulously! Selvam’s strong faith in ‘Outtu’ and his loyalty in turn to Selvam as against the blatant betrayal by Selvam’s own younger brother Ravi are crisply brought out without longish dialogues! Dhanush’s father excellently portrays the anguish typically experienced by the father of an unemployed spoilt kid! The role of Dhanush’s boss is tailor- made for mega serial fame Chethan !
Other than the initial scenes where Dhanush is an unemployed graduate, there is absolutely no scope for comedy (despite the presence of Karunas, who plays a rather serious role!) which makes the film very heavy and dry, with viewers gasping for some relief!
Though the hard work put in by Dhanush is visible all over, the viewer can’t help getting the feeling of ‘ kuruvi thalaiyil panangaay’!! His passion for his ‘Pulsar’ bike, typical of today’s Gen-X, ( a vee bit larger than his love for the heroine ‘Kuththu’ Ramya nee Divya!) has come out poetically. At one point of time, ‘Kuththu’ Ramya says her father will, in all probability, refuse to acknowledge their love and Dhanush says everything will be all right in due course. That is the last time you get to see Ramya and thereafter, their love story is left hanging without properly tying up either way in the end (perhaps because the unduly gory climax didn’t permit any soft sentiments to be inserted in the last scene!!). Talking of glamour, you get a liberal dose of it, with the glamour artiste in the dance sequence ‘alibaba thangam’ stealing the show leaving ‘Kuththu’ Ramya prancing with Dhanush pale in comparison!
With music by GV Prakash, the songs are peppy and racy (and noisy!!), especially the numbers ‘ padichchup paaththEn ERavilla, kudichchup paaththEn ERidichchu!’ , ‘engEyum eppOthum’ remix and ‘alibaba thangam’. Background score also fits in neatly with the violent backdrop of a Chennai Dada story!!
Kudos to Cameraman Velraj and the editor who have done a commendable job in bringing alive the dark gulleys of North Chennai, an ideal breeding ground for gang wars of Dadas!
One wonders why the director gave up the two different first person narratives abruptly half way thro’! To be fair to him, he was doing a reasonably good job of it!!
Madras Bhashai used throughout the film is very authentic!
When you come out of the theatre, you feel as if you had witnessed one of those famous encounters in which many a Chennai history sheeter was finished off by the police!
On the whole, director Vetrimaaran definitely deserves to be commended for his courage in taking up a very tough subject in his maiden venture itself!!!
Cinema Virumbi
