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iView Author: R. Gayathridevi (Chennai, India)

Email: gaya3ram83 [at] gmail [dot] com

Being a die hard movie buff has its own set of highs and lows. I went thru all of it watching Gautham Vasudev Menon’s much hyped Vaaranam Aayiram on Sunday the 16th of November at Kasi Theatre. This is the first time I am catching a movie so early after its release – in this case barely two days after. My joy of possessing the last two tickets for the Sunday show can be properly empathized with only if you are as mad as me about movies. For the second ticket I had my husband for company. That noble soul has bravely faced thru all my Surya madness – how I would swoon every time the movie trailer was on TV and …

Vaaranam Aayiram Movie Review

There is a sequence in Gautham Vasudev Menon’s mostly autobiographical Vaaranam Aayiram, where Krishnan(Suriya) goes to meet his son, Surya(Suriya) in the engineering college hostel. The son looks up to the father, ‘my dad, my hero’ are the almost recurring emotions through the film. In this particular scene, Krishnan comforts his son, pats him on the back, gives him some money, and walks off saying, “we are both grown-ups now, son”. And Surya can’t hold his tears as the daily rush of hostel life surrounds him in the face…

One of the many poignant sequences in the film which underlines the joie de vivre or ‘life goes on’ theme emotion that Gautham has chosen to structure this film around.

Vaaranam Aayiram, one of the most anticipated films this year, for more reasons than one (big …

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 to a movie than locations and sets. A movie can tell more than what its scripts and dialogues on paper. Pithamagan to me is one movie which manages to elevate itself overcoming its shortcomings and the reasons are not just the usual ‘reasons’ like great acting and fabulous cinematography. It is these reasons that I have always wanted to write about and ‘recount’ as a part of my cinema learning experience.

1. Character is the king:

The Story itself is just an excuse for the audience …

….surya who ? Remember those posts on Nishabd…the story of scene no. 55 & 56 ? Yes..yes he is surendra hiwarale..apna zoorya.

As soon as me and KK left office (lower parel), it started raining heavily. Mumbai’s first shower this season. As expected, Vasan ditcher Bala said he cant make it as he is stuck with something more important. Manjeet bhurji-pav Singh was busy making rajma-chawl. We reached goregaon station and took a rick to Film City. Goregaon was dry compared to lower parel. KK had never been to film city before. We were looking for farishta garden and mandir wala road….thats what Surya told us on phone. It was all dark. Started drizzling suddenly. We crossed whistling woods, adlabs office and then stopped to figure out the exact location. A security guard told us left mat lena…sidha jao….we went seedha, crossed yashraj film’s sets of rab ne …