2 kostins, 2 answers
21.06.2007 Kungumam magazine Sujatha Q and A
Q. sivaji pathina top 10 ragasiyam sollungalen
A. (by sujatha) ragasiyam edhuvum illai. thiramayaaga kadhaiyamaikapattu, thirmayaga edukatappattu….
I could not complete that sentence, i literally laughed out loud, albeit a bit sadly for sujatha! :)
–Fade out–Flashback–
Aug/Sep 1992 Madhan interviews Mani Ratnam in Vikatan (liberally paraphrased).
Q. Oru padam edukumbodhu yaar yaarai ellam satisfy pannanum nu ninaipeenga?
Mani Ratnam’s Answer:
“First of all, nalla padam dhaan eduthirken nu enakku thonanum. Padam eduthutu konja naal kalichu, ‘ayyo ipdi oru mosamaana padathai eduthu tholaichitome naan vetkapada koodadhu!”
He may have given hits, he may have given flops, but i dont think Mani will ever feel ashamed of any film he has done in his career so far. Not many film directors in India can say that over a span of 20+ years. Atleast we have one person who does not insult the audience. I feel the younger direectors of Tamil Cinema are more talented than Mani. But nobody has yet matched that man’s consistency.
I could not help but think of Sivaji and Thalapathi - both had big budgets, both had mega stars, both had the best music directors of the times, best cameramen of the times, but Mani need not feel ashamed of Thalapathi and it was a commercial hit too. I am not so sure about the other person though.
July 3rd, 2007 at 12:03 am
Forget comparing Sivaji and Dalapathi, but dont you think Dalapathi was an over-rated movie? I don’t know why people even call it a “good” movie. Frankly, it was one of the few Rajini movies which I struggled to sit through.
July 3rd, 2007 at 5:14 am
what about ‘Iruvar’ ?
July 3rd, 2007 at 7:15 am
Pradeep,
If i had an option to choose between ’sivaji’ and ‘thalapathi’ for watching, i would choose thalapathi 10 times out of 10.
i think that was a decent fare and definitely not trash.
sree,
you expect mani to be ashamed of iruvar??? give me a break!
July 3rd, 2007 at 2:27 pm
PK, I very strongly second Pradeep. I too felt there was nothing great in Thalapathi. Infact as Pradeep rightly said, I too could not sit through the movie. And PK, I fail to understand the comparison here. Mani Rathnam’s movies are a different class and so is Shankar’s. Mani had his own share of lousy movies too like Agni Natchathiram and Thiruda Thiruda but ofcourse did not seem so bad becacuse of other entertaining elements like music, dance, rich star cast and so on. You should probably check Shivaji’s review in “Kalki”. I felt that was a very neutral and straight forward review.
July 3rd, 2007 at 10:01 pm
Ravi,
To each his own. Thalapathi may or may not be a great mani film, but i never had any doubt that its a mani film. 17 year and i still love rakkamma and the song picturisation.
>> I too could not sit through the movie.
Irukalaam! I too regret watching sivaji.
>>Mani had his own share of lousy movies too like Agni Natchathiram and Thiruda Thiruda
Those are lightweight stuff from Mani. What i call ‘entertainment’ movies. The other
example i can give you is ‘Chennai 28′ - Nothing serious about it. But definitely not lousy in my opinion. One was a hit, the other was a failure at the box office. But Agni Nakshathiram definitely had some good Mani moments.
I dont know on what basis you see a movie. Neither Thalapthi or the so called lousy Agni Nakashathiram nor Thiruda Thiruda tried to abolish black money in 2.30 hours nor did it have ridiculous scenes where the hero will take black money in gunny bags nor did he advocate hawala to abolish black money without even pretending to try to hold viewer’s interest.
Mudhalvan by the same Shankar had an illogical theme but that was presented in a much more palatable manner. I can agree if you call it entertaining.
If this is the idea of entertainment or different class of films for you folks, then i rest my case.
The people and the media have been expecially kind to sivaji because it had one actor. Why is it so i dont know! Films half this bad have been ripped apart in the media.
After the so called lousy thalapathy, vikatan those days had the gall to write,”Mani ratnathukku sarakku theernducha?”. No magazine will write anything like that today.Its an incestous world now. Filmfolks need publicity in magazine, magazines need film folks to run their magazines withut any content.
I dont know abut the Kalki review, but i sincerely believe mine was a neutral film goer’s review. I request you to read keerthivasan’s verdict in his blog on the same.
July 4th, 2007 at 12:15 am
PK, I am trying to argue for Sivaji. I agree it is a lousy movie by any standards (I guess you can see my comment in your Sivaji review post). The point I was trying to make was that Dalapathi isnt a great movie either. It should be one of the worst movies Mani has directed. And I have never seen any Rajini movie so boring. Rajini looked very uncomfortable in the role. In terms of pure performance, it should be one of Rajini’s most forgettable.
PS: This comment is not a deliberate attempt at Rajini/Mani bashing. I have no intentions of denying that they are both legends and there are several movies involving either of them that I cherish watching.
July 4th, 2007 at 12:15 am
Oops!! I meant to say ” I am NOT trying to argue for Sivaji”
July 4th, 2007 at 6:17 am
To each his own.//
appo edhukku ivalo periya postum commentsum ?
to abolish black money in 2.30 hours nor did it have ridiculous scenes//
2.5 hrs la oru village girl ava husbanda hard-core terrorrist kitta irundhu meetuttu vandhuduva !
Karthi….Maniya irundhaalum yaara irundhaalum nalla illaina nalla illainnu sollanum.
logic ellam rombadhaan paatha Mani enna compromisey pannaradhu illaiya?
‘uyirey’ ellam oru padama ?
July 4th, 2007 at 12:13 pm
Pradeep,
I think Thalapathi was a decent or Ok fare considering the huge
star cast, with 2 mega stars and the commercial compulsions.
I definitley would not agree that Rajini’s worst was in thalapathi. I did not feel insulted at any point. Raakamma, Kaatukuyilu’s song picturisations are still fresh to me. Again 10 out of 10 i would prefer that over sivaji.
Sree,
>>appo edhukku ivalo periya postum commentsum?
I write a post, some agree and some do not agree, so what am i supposed to do?
Correct me if i am wrong. Ennoda blog naan enakku thoninadha eludharadhukku. Ennoda comments section padikaravanga avanga comment a eludharadku.
There is no precondition that we should all come to some sort of agreement by some specific timeframe. At least i do not know any.
Pradeep, Ravi and maybe even you may or may not feel Thalapthi was the worst film ever. Not that I should subscribe to that view.. I think its a decent fare, much better than sivaji after 16 yrs and thats what i can write here. .
If you dont agree, so what? Comments la solra views ku naan accept pannuma enna?
Aprom, I’ve clearly said”…. without even pretending to try to hold viewer’s interest.”
I did also mention that 1 day CM in mudhalvan a riduclous concept on paper looked much better in film because of the treatment.
I dont think I would support a Mani movie just because its a mani movie. Pls.read my review of Guru again. In fact i would expect more from an established director like him, than say a Venkat Prabhu doing his first film.
Idhey yardstick naan shankar ku follow pannina ‘Different standards / class in films’ nu velakkam varudhu!
I still dont think Mani is the greatest of film director in Tamil cinema. I would rate Mahendran and CV Sridhar much above Mani. But consistency wise over the years i can see that he is deliberately struggling to give some semblance of quality, the best he can, that effort i do not see in the rest oif the junta now.
‘Uyire’ kandippa padam dhaan, enakku endha sandhegamum illai. andha padathoda ending happy a vechirundha adhuvum odirukkum. People would’ve gone home raving about Chayya Chayya, Saath Rang Re.
The only thing i did not like in Uyire was the end.
Exam la paadhi answer eludhittu irukkumbodu teacher papera pudingina oru feeling varume, thats how i felt.
I feel the movie was MUCH BETTER THAN THE TRASH WE ARE SUBJECTED TO THESE DAYS.
As i said, Mani has made some excellent movies that includes ‘a 2.30 hrs la oru ponnu terrorist kitte irundhu hubby a meetadhai nama nambara madhiri sonna ROJA’ and some not so good ones.
But i dont think he will be ashamed of any of his works when he hangs up his boots. Including ‘Idellam oru padama?’ ‘Uyire’.
July 4th, 2007 at 1:27 pm
I dont think Shankar has any reason to be ashamed of Sivaji
http://www.chillpilgrim.com/2007/07/04/sivaji-is-it-really-that-bad/
July 5th, 2007 at 5:42 am
‘to each his own ‘ nnu sollumpodhu , u shd accept the views reflected in the commentsnu artham illa. But andha maari sollaradhu oru feel of finality kodukudhu. Like u say..’avanga avanga ishtam..vidunga’ maari. So I think I did’nt write it clearly in my previous comment.
ennakku genuine aa Mani appo appo takes the audience for grantednnu thonum. Sometimes he gets the idea ‘namba enna koduthalum jananga eduthupaanga..onnum menakeda vendiyadhu illai’ maari oru attitude. I felt that when I watched Iruvar and Uyiruey. And Maharbharatam kadhai , kaaka vada sudara kadhai ellam pottu , adhu oru insult.
Roja la logic illainalum , the camera and the way the film was presented, the movie was made interesting.
Naan enna sollarenna oru ‘Mouna Raagam’ , ‘Nayakan’ movies kodhutha oru director shd know the pulse if ‘his’ audience.
I am happy with ur comment.
July 9th, 2007 at 1:07 am
“‘namba enna koduthalum jananga eduthupaanga..onnum menakeda vendiyadhu illai’ ”
- Absolutely. But, the point is, how contrived is the filmmaker. Mani is definitely less contrived and pretentious than likes of Shankar (who is a disgrace)!
Mani will feel ashamed of ‘Unaroo’ definitely! Thats the least impressive of his otherwise impressive CV.
I agree that Thalapathy is much better than Sivaji. I regret watching the latter. I don’t really mind watching thalapathy again!
I hate Mani for different reasons as well. I would put Bharathi Raja, J. Mahendran ahead of Mani. And, KB’s, Kamal haasan’s and Balu mahendra’s best works are better than Mani’s best (Mouna Ragam, Nayagan, Iruvar, Kannathil muthamital).
We all agree and know that Mani draws inspiration from actual events. He twists facts and presents his ‘fictionalized version’ of it. But the truth of it is, the man knows to present it well. Subtle and underplayed. Agreed that it irks us at times with almost muted dialaks, etc. Agreed that it might be stereotyped and sensationalized at times. Agreed that it is almost a ‘con-man’ like assumptive work.But the man isn’t Ray or Adoor for godsake! And he is much better than the current gen. jokers!