V.P. Jaiganesh | PassionforCinema

I am a software engineer living a routine life in Bengaluru(formerly Bangalore). Born and educated in chennai, I am an avid Thamizh(Tamil for others) movie fan, keenly interested to see movie making progress as an art and an entertainment form that complements other art forms rather than destroying them. Since I have a friend base that speaks all south indian languages, my cinema scope is also pan south Indian, occassionally including a Hindi movie or English movie. I wish to write more about what I have observed in South Indian movies and what they have taught me. Long cherished dream is to see the novel ”Oru manidhanum sila erumai maadugaLum” by Jeyakanthan into a movie starring Nasser or Pasupathi.

V.P. Jaiganesh's Blog

0
An early morning dream
supermarket I kiss her in the lips and say good morning. The Sun seems to be all the more bright today. “5 minutes” she says. I know she will take much longer. There is no hurry. Just another Saturday morning. I switch on the TV – All channels show the same message ” Please wait for an important announcement..” Meanwhile she is awake. She...
by V.P. Jaiganesh at September 12th, 2009 at 08:09 am
21
Sneakers that Fly!!
What does a pair of sneakers mean to me? I am well settled money wise and it simply means a 2 minute decision in the nearby ‘Payless’ to buy or not to. However there was a time in my life when a ‘canvas shoe’ meant a lot to me. It reflected my self esteem. There have been days in my life when I have protected it, taken care of it like a diary containing...
by V.P. Jaiganesh at August 17th, 2009 at 11:08 am
22
Gran Torino – a beginner’s guide to Gandhiism
If you haven’t seen Gran Torino, the Clint Eastwood directed drama about a bitter old man’s sweet turn in the twilight yet, please do yourselves a favour and stop reading this post further as it contains spoilers and crucial plot points discussed in detail. If you have already seen the movie, then this post is for you. So they say in the trailers and other...
by V.P. Jaiganesh at July 29th, 2009 at 02:07 pm
22
Memories about a Lion!
Once upon a time, I saw a lion in Nandan Kannan zoo. I had seen lions in Chennai’s vandalur zoo as well, but this lion, I saw was bigger and it looked every bit like the lions I had read about in the stories as a child. It evoked a kind of fear and awe in me, the feeling you have when you see the smaller hair in the back of your head rising in a moment of electric...
by V.P. Jaiganesh at July 20th, 2009 at 10:07 pm
22
Oye Lucky Oye Oye and a beginner’s guide to Post modernism
Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! PosterI am the type who simply skips pages in the weblog or skip channels if someone starts discussing modernism and post modernism. I have always held a strong notion that keeping such thoughts in mind were like Rahul Dravid playing an aggressive swipe in the non strikers end while sachin is smashing sixers and boundaries on the other side. They...
by V.P. Jaiganesh at July 10th, 2009 at 03:07 am
14
Avatharam and my passion for cinema
Recently there was a discussion. I wouldn’t say it was pleasant. I was at the receiving end for most part of it. It centred on what credentials or knowledge I possess to write articles in an esteemed forum like PFC? Sure I was no struggling AD in the streets of mumbai or chennai trying to make movies, not now – probably I never will be. Sure I was not a guy...
by V.P. Jaiganesh at June 21st, 2009 at 11:06 am
3
People of honour
கெட்டாலும் மேன்மக்கள் மேன்மக்களே !சங்கு சுட்டாலும் வெண்மை தரும் ! Loosely translated, these words of Thamizh poetess Avvaiyaar (அவ்வையார்) means Even in their fall people of honour remain high A conch even if smelted by fire never darkens! If...
by V.P. Jaiganesh at June 8th, 2009 at 01:06 pm
4
Shiva’s Apocalypse
<!– Disclaimer of your choice and preference –> It was decided then. The game had gone on for too long. Everyone was bored. There was nothing new to play for. No new moves. The harvest had been poor. The new varieties had unfailingly shown the same ‘poor strains’ that forced the previous crops to be burnt. Hey it was not all that bad. The...
by V.P. Jaiganesh at May 26th, 2009 at 03:05 pm
6
JCVD – ghost of a star
Oss!! Exclaims Van Damme the action star in the movie JCVD (Jean Claude Van Damme)! It is not in preparation for a kick on the villains. It is rather in conclusion of a one second long monologue(to himself) that is stretched into a screen time of 5 to 10 minutes in the movie. The conclusion being the acceptance of his present state – that of a helpless victim of...
by V.P. Jaiganesh at May 11th, 2009 at 11:05 am
17
Milk – My vote for the best of 2008
Not that it matters. I am not an academy or Golden Globe member! I possess no influence and I am part of no media entourage. However I feel I can say this categorically. When the stellar dust of Oscar worship settles down, in a year or two, the connoisseurs and auteurs would mark 2008 as the year when Milk was denied but could deny it no more. For it is a far superior...
by V.P. Jaiganesh at May 4th, 2009 at 11:05 pm
15
Dasavathaaram (தசாவதாரம்) – Beneath the latex waves
I had earlier recorded my outburst after seeing Kamal’s dasavatharam last year thus -> http://passionforcinema.com/dasavatharam-insult-to-intelligence/ Two weeks back I had gotten hold of dasavatharam DVD (rented from neighbourhood grocer) and decided to do a relaxed second viewing – mostly for lack of options to see movies in the place I live. I must...
by V.P. Jaiganesh at April 17th, 2009 at 09:04 pm
21
Cine phile salvager – Ayan
Welcome to the cine phile shipwreck salvaging service. This is one stop shop to salvage something worthwhile from otherwise transient masala movies. Please feel free to recommend things to be salvaged from your favourite masala movie here. This week I was asked to salvage some useful things from AVM’s current masala hit ‘Ayan’, a thamizh language masala...
by V.P. Jaiganesh at April 14th, 2009 at 09:04 am
5
Namma Ooru transporter
Memories are a beautiful tool. Sometimes they can be the best form of entertainment when you have no other means to relieve stress. Flipping the pages of an old photo album can rekindle so many memories that can make you forget where you are and what you do. It can free you from the limiting frame of current circumstance. Where imagination is limited, memory alone can...
by V.P. Jaiganesh at April 7th, 2009 at 04:04 pm
5
I think I have lost it
I think I have lost it. I think I have lost my sense of balance. Too much of thinking has spoiled my brain. While every one saw a straight forward ‘feel good sports movie’ with a screwed up ending, I saw a scathing tragic commentary hidden beneath the layers of enticing feel good ‘underdog’ movie. Probably that is the reason why I was able to accept...
by V.P. Jaiganesh at March 28th, 2009 at 08:03 pm
8
13-B – Scare me more!!
We have a great Indian formula when it comes to horror movies. 1. There is always a back story. 2. The ghost or ghosts always are never felt right away and anything spooky happening is never taken seriously by most of the characters save some – usually protagonists 3. There are always some characters around with some spooky character traits for the director,...
by V.P. Jaiganesh at March 26th, 2009 at 08:03 am
5
V.Shekar’s dilemma
If I say the name of director V.Shekar or his production house – Thiruvalluvar kalai koodam(à®¤à®¿à®°à¯à®µà®³à¯à®³à¯à®µà®°à¯ à®•à®²à¯ˆà®•à¯à®•à¯‚à®Ÿà®®à¯), most cine lovers would blink for a while – except for those ardent Vadivelu, Goundamani and Senthil fans. He is one director...
by V.P. Jaiganesh at March 4th, 2009 at 03:03 am
31
A unique actor boards the bus – Good bye Nagesh sir
What would you call an actor who can make you laugh with your gutts in one second and in the next micro second make you reach out for the hand kerchief to wipe your tears? What would you call an actor whose presence simply overshadows even the superstars and super actors like Kamal Hassan and Shivaji Ganesan? What would you call an actor who worked 20 of the 24 hours in...
by V.P. Jaiganesh at January 31st, 2009 at 12:01 am
24
Naan Kadavul – music for the soul!
The music for Bala’s much awaited Naan Kadavul came out three weeks back, a full week before the audio of Mysskin’s Nandalala. I have been hearing these songs for this entire period of time and yet could collect my thoughts only now to write a post on them. Unlike Nandhalaala these songs are not immediately likeable. These songs have so much of gravity behind...
by V.P. Jaiganesh at January 26th, 2009 at 10:01 am
12
Nandhalaala – songs of a flute
When a thamizh film poster puts the name of the music director ahead of the director and says that the movie is a ‘journey with ILaiyaraja’ you dont generally take much of a not about it. However if the director is Mysskin who made the fabulous ‘Anjaadhe’ last year and the movie is inspired by the japanese classic ‘Kikujiro’ –...
by V.P. Jaiganesh at January 16th, 2009 at 03:01 pm
22
The transformation
First there was… Vikram before Sethu happened Then Bala came … We saw the first transformation that shocked and put our generation into awe.. We couldn't recognize this guy post interval in Sethu!!! And he was not done yet… We saw this guy not as vikram, not as chiyaan . Only as … Pithamagan - a new man - entity never seen before. There was...
by V.P. Jaiganesh at January 11th, 2009 at 06:01 pm
18
A thousand elephants
The phrase thousand elephants has a lot of significance in Thamizh literature. The medieval classic ‘Kalingathup parani’ was written over a war in which a chola king’s army killed more than thousand elephants of an enemy in a war. In fact the grammar says that ‘parani’ (collection of songs on a king’s victory in war) should be written...
by V.P. Jaiganesh at December 28th, 2008 at 10:12 pm
9
The Joker and the Mule
After watching ‘The Dark Knight’ in the wee hours of the night, I was stuck with one thought – a feeling of depression of ‘did the fascinating joker deserve to be in the claustrophobic world of Gotham?’. Was he not worthy of inhabiting universes and parauniverses of Asimovian Science fiction world – much like the great ‘Mule’...
by V.P. Jaiganesh at December 23rd, 2008 at 11:12 pm
16
A diamond falls from a tree – last tribute to Director Sridhar
A shocking news to read this morning – Director Shridhar – most successful classy director in thamizh cinema whose movies did well uniformly well in all languages passed away at the age of 80 yesterday. He was the first director to introduce feminism in thamizh cinema. He was the first director to bring modernist visions of movie making as far as thamizh cinema...
by V.P. Jaiganesh at October 20th, 2008 at 11:10 am
36
A wednesday – a 90 minute thriller –really.
So when I picked up the DVd from the local grocery store for viewing, my wife asked me what kinda movie it was. Rarely has she seen me renting a Hindi DVD. I told her that it is supposed to be a ‘thriller’. The next question was ‘who are there in it?’ I told ‘Naseer and Anupam’. The reaction was something of a suggestion that I go have...
by V.P. Jaiganesh at October 14th, 2008 at 11:10 pm
7
No more notes to play on this violin
It was 1987 deepavali – when I remembered to have caught the glimpse of an ecstatic violin experience in doordarshan chennai. It was like violin heard never before. No slow and gentle strokes that reeked of utmost seriousness and devotion. It was a classical maestro Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan at his cheerful best on a happy day. He simply rocked and played devotional...
by V.P. Jaiganesh at September 9th, 2008 at 01:09 am
14
Aval Appadiththaan – Cinema – take a bow!
Cinema is often abused as the vehicle of silly entertainment. So much so there are even reviewers telling you how irritated they feel when a movie tries to ‘preach’ – convey a message etc., The culprits are usually film makers who seize on a current issue and make an ‘inflight video’ of do’s and donts’ where the protagonist is...
by V.P. Jaiganesh at August 12th, 2008 at 11:08 am
1
Interesting characters – will they be in movies?
All that discussion on Munshiji in Pavan Jha’s post made me rewind down the memory lane to my plus one class when we had short stories collection for language (both english and Thamizh) non-detailed. The English non-detailed had some regular O Henry stories. The Thamizh non-detailed story had one interesting story by ‘Pudhumai Piththan’. The short story...
by V.P. Jaiganesh at July 31st, 2008 at 09:07 pm
8
We sold out and They Live
Big Corporations have sold out humanity for Guru Kant Desai’s pet word ‘Munafa’, profit. Working class toils day and night, live honestly but dont get anywhere. Steel plant workers push hard, while the bosses pushed them out. You believe in American Dream, well it is exported now. Life is so hard, things are so costly that you dont have any hope left,...
by V.P. Jaiganesh at June 25th, 2008 at 09:06 pm
27
Four years and recounting – Pithamagan
It was October 2003 when audiences in Thamizhnadu (Tamil Nadu for uninitiated) were swept away by cinematic brilliance of Pithamagan. Personally it was one movie that made me realize that movies need not be all beginnings, middle and endings, not to say that this movie broke any rules of cinematic grammar. There is more to a movie than scripts and lightings. There is more...
by V.P. Jaiganesh at June 18th, 2008 at 07:06 pm
17
PFC connection weekend – DC
Beginning ….. When you get a chance of a weekend where you get to watch an anticipated movie release on night and an opportunity to meet and reminiscence more on movies with fellow cinephiles, you don’t blink. So I packed my bags and drove to an undisclosed location that Striker had passed on to me MI style braving the thunderstorm on my way. My hope was...
by V.P. Jaiganesh at June 15th, 2008 at 09:06 pm