A new chapter in Tamil cinema? Let’s wait & see!
I must confess, this was a first. Never have the newspaper ads of a movie bewitched me so. The day the first posters of ‘Aaranya Kaandam’ were published in the papers, I couldn’t wait to watch the movie (just my luck, looks like my wait will continue for some more time). Before I say anything more, it is only fair that everyone gets to have a dekko at the posters.
Aaranya Kaandam poster
Aaranya Kaandam poster
Aaranya Kaandam poster
Very impressive, aren’t they? So I got down to tracking down the director, Thiagarajan Kumararaja. The name sounded familiar. And after I met him, I knew why. Kumararaja is the man who wrote the crackling dialogues for the Arya-Pooja starrer ‘Oram Po’. Before this, Loyola College (Chennai) student and Viscom dropout had done various jobs like freelance photographer for a newspaper and had also directed some short films.
Thiagarajan Kumaraja, director of Aaranya Kaandam
At first, I thought the movie would create history by being the first graphic movie in the history of Tamil cinema, maybe even Indian cinema. But sadly, it was not to be though the posters gave out that impression. “The genre of the movie is close to that of ‘Sin City’ but the movie is not shot like it or like the movie 300,” says Kumaraja.
Jackie Shroff in Aaranya Kaandam
Jackie Shroff and Ravi Krishna in Aaranya Kaandam
But I had a lot to rejoice for. “Aaranya Kaandam” marks the debut in Tamil of Jackie Shroff, who plays an ageing don in the movie. And the ensemble star cast, I am sure, will also prove to be a treat to watch. The other actors in the movie are Ravi Krishna, Sampath and model Yasmin Ponnappa.
Ravi Krishna
Sampath
Yasmin Ponappa
‘Aaranya Kaandam’ (loosely translated it means ‘jungle chapter’, much like the chapters in the Ramayana) is a movie “about the animal instinct in all of us,” says Kumararaja. It is a gangster movie and the story takes place during the course of a day.
Stuntmen relax on location as the shot is being set up
“Jackie plays the pivotal character in the movie, something like the hub of a cycle wheel,” he says. But Jackie was not his first choice for the role. He tried to cast a lot of Tamil characters, but none wanted to play it in view of their “image”.
Similarly, the role of the heroine was written with Pooja in mind, but as she was busy shooting for ‘Naan Kadavul’ and had committed her dates for that project, he was forced to look for an alternative. But Ravi Krishna was his first choice for another character, and he immediately agreed to do the movie after the narration. “Even when I was writing the movie, I wanted Ravi Krishna in it as one of the characters was written with him in mind,” says Kumararaja. This will be Ravi Krishna’s next outing after the fairly successful one in “Kadhalna Summa Illai”, which was a remake of the Telugu movie “Gamyam”.
Ravi Krishna
When asked about the story of the movie, Kumararaja says only this: “It is about the survival of the fittest … more like in a jungle. Only the fastest deer survives.” And this jungle pertains to north Chennai, where most of the movie has been shot.
The cinematographer is the much-talented P S Vinod, who had earlier shot “Musafir” for Sanjay Gupta and “My Wife’s Murder” for Jijy Philip.
The music score is by Yuvan Shankar Raja. Any specific reason? Did Yuvan’s score for “Pudupettai” influence his choice? “No,” says Kumaraja. “I actually did not have anyone in mind. My producer suggested Yuvan because they have a good working relationship, and I went along with his choice”.
During the course of a coffee with Kumararaja, I just wondered why the movie has to take place during the course of a day. He had a very simple answer. “I am a very lazy person. I like to go back home at night and sleep in my own bed. That is why I wrote the story in such a way that it takes place during the course of a day. That way there are no night shoots.” Makes sense, I must add.
About 75% of the movie has been shot, and the rest will be canned over the course of the final schedule, scheduled to begin sometime towards the end of the month. But no release dates have been set because Kumararaja likes to work at his own pace.
Kumararaja explains a shot to Sampath on location
For this, he has much to thank SP Charan, who is producing the movie under his Capital Film Works banner. He has been responsible for pushing the limits of Tamil cinema right from “Chennai-28″ (a beautiful, small movie about gully cricket in Chennai, made with new actors like Jai and Nithinsathyaa, who are stars in their own right now), “Sa-ro-ja” (who would have thought that a road movie about four guys going to watch a cricket match would become such a big hit) and “Kunguma Poovum Konjum Puravum” (a beautiful love story again with a new cast and director, which came in for a lot of praise but unfortunately was not as successful as the earlier movies). Way to go, Charan!!!
A stuntman ponders over his next move before the canning of a fight scene
But my problem still remains unsolved. I still can’t wait to watch “Aaranya Kaandam” though!
Tags: Movies, Tamil
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Shilpa Shukla
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Hi Venky!
The Movie Posters are a 100% rip-off of the “Sin City”-comics by Frank Miller which I read back in the early 90’s. Looks to me like Kumararaja is not innovative at all and rather wants to cash in on the visual style of these 15-year old classics.
BTW, the comics are a billion times better than the strange “Sin City”-movies. No comparison.
@ Venky-
If at all I look forward to the movie it would be because it is backed ( produced ) by S.P.Charan’s Capital Film Works Banner and also because it has
Jackie Shroff.after acting in Kannada,Telugu and Malayalam, Jackie now completes his foray into South Indian cinema by doing this film in Tamil.
I have zero expectations from Ravi Krishna.Hoping that Yuvan’s music would suit the mood of the film.Lets wait & watch for the film.