Thalapathy- Tale of a modern day Karna
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The Mahabharat has always been one of my favorite books. It is like an ocean for me, the more you know of it , the lesser you still know about it. And one of the most fascinating characters in the Mahabharata for me has been Karna. I guess maybe due to the fact, that Karna is a character who inhabits the grey area betweeen good and evil. He is brave, generous and a person who would give his life for his friend. Yet he collaborates in the Kaurava’s unfair strategy to kill Abhimanyu in the Chakravyuha. But the story of Karna, is that of a man who was let down by destiny. Abandoned by his real mother Kunti, as a child, he grew up under the care of a charioteer. At every stage he was let down by destiny, including his final moments, when he was killed totally defenceless. He refused to part company with Duryodhan even though he knew he was not on the right side, because of his friendship and gratitude.
Maniratnam adapted this legendary tale of the Karna-Duryodhan friendship, in a more modern setting, in his 1991 movie Thalapathy starring Rajnikanth and Mamooty. Karna here is Surya(Rajnikanth), who was abandoned by his real mother, when he was born out of wedlock, in a remote village. He is adopted by an old lady living in a slum in Chennai, and grows up there. Surya is a hot tempered youth who once beats up a local goon Ramana badly for molesting a girl there. Ramana later dies in hospital, and the problem is that he happens to be the right hand man for Deva( Mamooty), the local slum lord. Deva is furious and when Surya defies him, he has him arrested. However later Deva discovers Ramana’s crime, and releasing Surya from prison makes him his Thalapathi, or the chief.
Surya turns out to be Deva’s right hand man, as also his closest friend. In the mean while, Surya’s real mother Kalyani( Sri Vidya) is now married to a Government officer, and her son Arjun( Arvind Swamy), is in the Civil Services. Kalyani herself is a doctor and soon Arjun is posted to Chennai as collector. Deva is a kind of Robin Hood figure, whom the slum dwellers revere, as he takes care of their needs in a way neither the elected officials nor the government officers do. Surya is in love with a Brahmin girl, Shubalakshmi( Shobana), who also loves him in return, but does not like his violent ways. She would prefer that Surya give it up, but he says that this is the only life he knows. Her father, an orthodox priest( Charu Hassan), however rejects Deva’s marriage proposal, saying he would rather see his daughter unmarried, than being married to a goon like Surya. Shubalaxmi is later married off to Arjun, while Surya marries Padma( Bhanupriya), Ramana’s widow. This is however more to protect her from others in the slum, rather than any feeling. In the meantime, a gang war breaks out between Deva and Kalivardhan( Amrish Puri), another gangster, and Deva’s sworn rival. The attacks come to the notice of Arjun, who vows to take action against Deva.
The first time i had seen Thalapathy, i somehow was not impressed much with the movie. I guess watching it in a Telugu dubbing version, with the dialogues appearing in a clipped format, was somewhat disconcerting. But this is one of those movies, that slowly grew on me, over repeated viewings, and i would rate this now as one of Mani’s great movies. The strong point in Thalapathy for me was the relati0nship between Deva and Surya, which was based on the Duryodhan-Karna friendship. The scenes between both of them are brilliantly shot.
The first scene where Deva and Surya confront each other on the bridge, in a rainy night, is brilliantly picturized. Deva’s imposing presence, Surya’s haughty could not care less demeanour, and the face off between them, is worth the price. Also the BGM of IR, just enhances the effect, as well as Santosh Sivan’s camera work, as he makes the rain swept night so realistic, you can actually feel it.
The best scene for me however is when Deva points to the wounds he received, while beaten up in the police station, and asks Surya to take revenge. Surya is hesistant, because he knows that Arjun is his step brother and is now torn between his closest friend and his own brother. And when he finally blurts out the truth, Deva is stunned to know. He immediately decides to surrender and in fact is much more proud of Surya than before.
For me this particular scene depicted the culmination of the friendship between Deva and Surya. Having grown up as an orphan, Surya, experiences friendship and affection from Deva. But when Deva asks him to kill his own brother, he is torn here, between the promise he had made to his mother, Kalyani, that he would not harm Arjun, and yet he had already pledged his loyalty to Deva, eternally. Its only when Deva questions his loyalty, that he is forced to reveal it. Deva in fact admires him more than ever, for the simple fact that he choose him, rather than his own brother, all these days. The bit where Deva holds Surya, and tells every one around “This is what a real friend is”, is really touching.
Another great scene in the movie is when Deva and Surya, are summoned by Arjun and asked to surrender. Both of them accuse of him not knowing the ground reality and blindly following the law. They tell him about how the slum dwellers are perpetually exploited by every one, the cops, the authorities, the political leaders and chide Arjun for not doing this. Mani again throwing up the question of the system failing out here. Arjun only believes that the law has to be followed, and he is somewhat unable to accept the reality.
The opening scene shot in Black & White, where Surya is abandoned as a child, by his teen mother, in a railway wagon, is again wonderfully picturized. We really dont get to see much of the girl’s face, just her anguished voice, and tying the scarf around the infant. The train moving along, the sounds of the Bhogi celebration in the background make it a really haunting scene.
Also maybe due to the character ’s name being Surya or the legend of Karna being the Sun God’s child, Mani uses the motif of sunrise and sunset throughout the movie at key points. The scene in which Shobana is introduced, as well as the Yamuna Aatriyile song. Or even better the particular scene where Surya promises to Kalyani’s husband that he would not tell her the truth, we see Mani framing it against the sun, and both Surya and Kalyani’s husband shown in a kind of silhoutte.
The way Mani interconnects the relationships not just between Surya and Deva, but with other characters also is excellent. Kalyani’s husband knowing about Surya’s parentage, when the latter blurts out to Arjun that he was abandoned as a child. Kalyani discovering the truth unknowingly from Surya’s wife Padma. And the rivalry between Deva and Kalivardhan. One of Mani’s strong points has been characterization, and the way he relates them, and that is shown in Thalapathy.
Like in Nayakan, Mani also depicts the gritty, claustrophobic nature of the slum in a realistic manner. For me one thing i like about Mani is the way he actually makes you feel the atmosphere. Santosh Sivan’s cinematography is brilliant, the way he frames the characters in a silhoutte manner against the sunlight, or in the opening scene shot in a stark B&W setting, or the scene when Surya and Deva face off with Arjun, as he keeps moving the camera around. But not sure where the river front scenes were shot, that was certainly not Chennai.
This was the last movie in which Illayaraja worked with Maniratnam, and the soundtrack is as usual excellent. Rakamma Kaiyya Thattu, is a real peppy and bouncy number, and i believe this came in a BBC Top 10 Music Poll, and of course was lifted lock, stock and barrel by Anand Milind for Tu, Tu, Tu Tu Tara in Bol Radha Bol. Sundari Kannal for me is one of the best songs in the album, Mani picturizing this in a kind of Japanese samurai setting. Yamunai Atrhiyile is more of a classic number, while Kaatukuyilu is a typical Pongal celebration song.
Casting Rajnikant in a role, which does not contain his trademark mannerisms, or super human feats, and that too at the height of his superstardom, is not a mean task. And Mani pulls it off brilliantly, as shorn of the mannerisms, we see one of Rajni’s finest performances. What we see in Thalapathy is not Rajni the superstar, but Rajni the actor, watch his expressions in that particular scene, where he is torn between his friendship for Deva, and the feeling for his own brother, brilliant. To people who are only familiar with Rajni’s antics that have been parodied, i request them to watch Thalapathy, to see the other side of him. And complementing Rajni scene for scene is Mamooty as Deva, the slum lord. In fact its the performances of these two actors that actually elevate the movie. Watch out for Mammooty’s expression, when he tells Arjun to go and do what he wants, a mixture of bemusement, arrogance and sarcasm. Making his debut Aravind Swamy does a fairly good job as Arjun, while Sri Vidya is excellent as usual. Amrish Puri is suitably nasty as the villian, and Bhanupriya, Shobana, Geeta( as Deva’s wife) and Nagesh( as Deva’s faithful employee) offer good support.
Tags: Ilayaraja, Mammotty, Maniratnam, Rajnikant, Santosh Sivan, Tamil Cinema
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Ratnakar- you’ve taken me on a nostalgic trip once again.Its among my all time favourite tamil movies.The camaraderie between Rajnikanth & Mammootty was superbly captured on screen.Ilayaraja’s songs were brilliant & each & every song was a gem.It was a diwali release
( 1991) and what a diwali it was.The movie clashed with another brilliant movie- Guna & for a teenager like me then who was slowly on his way to becoming a passionate film lover, the festival was made even more memorable.Sonu Walia who appeared in the Rakkama Kaiyyathattu song was probably never noticed so much even in her hindi movies.Brilliant all the way…..
Sethu, incidentally i never liked either movie, when i first saw them. But on repeated viewings both of them just grew on me, and right now both are my favorites.
BTW Rakamma appeared in the BBC World Top 10 Songs Poll, in 2002. That list had Rakamma along with ARR’s Chaiyya Chaiyya. But the description on website says it is taken from Thalapathy, an Indian version of the God Father, LOL. Thalapathy was no way related to Godfather, i guess they got confused with Nayagan.
Sethu, btw Mamooty did die in couple of movies i think, one i remember is Iyer the Great, where he had that 6th Sense, quite interesting movie. Even Mohanlal’s character in Abhimanyu had a tragic end, so i dont think fans there wud be too upset about them dying. Stricly my opinion.
A typo in your post.
……..
Surya turns out to be Deva’s right hand man, as also his closest friend. In the mean while, Deva’s real mother Kalyani( Sri Vidya) is now married to a Government officer,
………..
That should have been Surya’s real mother
Wonderful post..I too love this movie !
Libu thanks have mae the correction.
Nicely put Ratnakar. Rajni, was an actor here, minus all his on-screen histronics. Rightly said. Mani also could get all these actors together for this film as each one give such a good performance.
Shobana and Bhanupriya can emote just with their eyes. That song ‘Kaatukuyilu..’ shot in the slum is in slow motion rite much before the famous ‘pehla nasha’ from JJWS. Was the latter inspired from this?..Neways, it seriously got be back to the times when Mani made seriously good films, I guess the early nineties were the just the tail of these. Illayaraja also came up with gems for his films…
Arthi that is something i admire in Mani, the way he brings out the best in the actors. He got Simran to appear in a de glam role( Kannathil). I never liked Mohan much, but in Mounaraagam, his performance was so wonderful and restrained.
Again while Raghuvaran has given some great performances, for me his performance in Anjali, was something special. Having been used to seeing Raghuvaran in nasty roles, it was a revelation watching him in a sensitive role, and he was just fantastic. Just loved his performance in that scene where he gets furious when the apartment people complain against his daughter. Same with Prakash Raj, he has again given some great performances, but what he did in Iruvar was again special. The way Mani gets the best out of the actors is something to be seen.
Yes in fact entire Kaatukuyilu song was shot in slow motion. And if can see the choreography of the song is in total sync with IR’s rythm.
The movie has brilliant script and screenplay. The drama is wonderfully captured. Technically brilliant, with slick shots, wonderful cinematography and apt editing (Remember, Bhanupriya’s 1st shot,wailing next after husband’s body. No dialogues and she comes much later).
This film is a text book for Background score.Songs are terriffic but look at the BGM.When Rajni holds Bhanupriya’s baby for the 1st time, the remorse in his face for killing the father of the child – Only ilaiyaraaja can pull such a background score. Also when Rajni meets shobhana after a long time.
This is a classic for everyone associated – Maniratnam, Rajni, Ilaiyaraaja etc. Wonderful article.
Aakarsh, the script and screenplay are its strength. I mean that sequence, where Mammoty discovers the truth about Rajni and Arvind Swamy, is wonderfully scripted. Also that scene, where Shobana’s father refuses to give his daughter in marriage to Rajni. Loved the BGM in the first encounter between Rajni and Mamooty, just matched with the mood perfectly.
You have left out a wonderful performance by Jaishankar – yesteryear swashbuckling james bond type of hero playing the father of Arjun. The scene where he breaks the truth about Kalyani to surya is THE BEST scene in the movie for me. the background music, the blinding sun and wonderful acting by two veterans – jai and Rajini – simply elevating the scene to a different level –
Another scene where Santhosh Sivan and Mani went to the park and had a great picnic was when Kalyani comes visiting her slumdog( oops) son Surya. The whole scene is AWESOME.
The repeat of ‘Chinna thaayavaL’ where Surya stalks his mother and that leached white temple – another slomo song – TERRIFIC – Visually it is easily the best Mani movie for me.And as far as sound is concerned – Ilaiyaraaja whirls up a mini symphony in a grand style. The thundering background or the solo wailing flute everything was PERFECT and transports into a different world. Listening to the sound alone in the film is such an elevating feeling. Pity that I have to revisit this awesome music (BGM) in a DVD rip. I need the original sound track of this movie remastered and released as a separate CD.
As a side note – the voice of shobana was provided by Suhasini and it was Rajini who played the match maker and eventually she became Suhasini Maniratnam.
Jaiganesh, thanks for adding some value with ur comments, Guruji. Jaishankar was nicknamed as Jamesbond Jaishankar right. That particular scene u mentioned is one of my favorites, great acting by both of them here.
The reunion scene between Kalyani and Surya is brilliant, as also the scene where Kalyani knows of Surya when Bhaupriya visits her. Fantastic soundtrack by IR here, one of the best, but then he always seems to give his best for Mani.
Yes Ratnakar I’m sure they must confused Thalapathy with Nayagan.
Jai- yes Jaishankar the Tamil James Bond had a very subtle yet wonderful role.a very good example of restrained acting.I think he symbolised a model husband in the movie!!!
Ratnakar: Well written, as usual.
Just one point – though Rajini’s usual trademark style was missing, Mani created intelligent moments in the film for Rajini’s fans to rejoice.
# Rajini’s introduction shot – in the rain, it was the best introductory shot Rajini EVER.
# After Rajini beats up Ramana, Mammootty visits Ramana in the hospital. Nagesh, one of his aides, is next to him. Mammootty takes a look at Ramana and asks, ” How many of them beat him up?”. For which the answer comes, “One person”!! It was such a great moment for Rajini fans (including yours truly) to celebrate Thalaivar’s heroics!
# Dance by Rajini in Raakkamma song.
# Kaatukuyilu song
# The ending, of course. It looked like a compromise on the part of the director. As you have rightly pointed out Karna was let down by everybody around him including destiny (except Duryodhana). But here all’s well that ends well! And we Rajini fans heaved a sigh of relief! (However, looking back now, the ending looks ordinary).
Anand, dont think Mani cud have taken the risk of getting Rajni’s character killed in the end, LOL.
In fact Mamooty here is not exactly a Duryodhan character, i think here Amrish Puri more closely suits the Duryodhan one. Also here Mamooty agrees to stop the war, after knowing that Arjun and Surya were brothers. In Mahabharat, Duryodhan, carries on with the war, even after he has lost every one.
But hats off to Mani for the way he bought out such a different performance from Rajni, and yet making sure his hard core fans dont feel disappointed. Wonderful balancing act there.
As i told Mani has a way of getting the best out of any actor.
He extracts great performances from not so great actors like Simran or Arvind Swamy.
And from great actors he extracts memorable performances be it Kamal( Nayagan), Mohanlal( Iruvar), Prakash Raj(Iruvar & KM), Rajni( Thalapathy) or Raghuvaran( Anjali).
Raghuvaran is a fab actor for sure, but his performance in Anjali was totally different, did not have some of his mannerisms, and if u observe Prakash Raj in Iruvar with his other movies, you again find, a lot of difference in the performance.
I hrd that the climax was altered because of the fans…and the malayalam version (if there is one..) has Surya dying in it..Is it true??
@Bala,
As far as i know there is no malayalam Version of the movie.
I also heard that climax was altered because mani felt audience would not accept Rajni dying.
Somebody enlight us on this.
To the best of my knowledge there is no separate Mallu version of this, i have many Mallu friends, with whom i discuss movies in and out, but this had never come up. Also am not sure whether the climax was altered just for fans, or Mani wanted it that way. No reliable information on this.
Bala- yes even I had heard that the climax was a bit altered keeping in mind the fans of Rajni.And yes did hear of an alternate ending for Kerala.Basically it seemed that the version that released in Kerala shows rajni dying instead of Mammootty.But I dont really think its true & anyways this was also a tamil version and there was no malayalam version of it.Another such instance was in the Malayalam film -Harikrishnans which supposedly had 3 endings – one to please Mammootty fans- Malabar area, one to please Mohanlal fans- Travancore area & one to please both the fans- central area
Reading the post and the scenes you’ve written was almost like watching the movie. I may have watched it many times in all these years, and as you say, each time I watch it I see something new. Its like a encyclopedia for people who want to know movie making. Be it the casting, screenplay, acting, cinematography, BGM…almost all technical aspects were excellent. Movie speaks of the team work. Just one word ‘Brilliant’!!!
Sridhar, yes one of the best movies ever made. The takking and narration was top class, as was the symbolism, of using the sun as the backdrop to Rajni’s character. Well man consider the people behind it, Santosh Sivan, Ilayaraja, Thota Tharani, Maniratnam, Gautam Raju, and you can see the end result on screen.
@Sethu – Wow! That was quite an info on Mammootty fans dude…
Ratnakar- the different endings for Thalapathy in Kerala & for Harikrishnan’s is more of an urban legend I guess
Ratnakar: Some of the other memorable performances in Mani’s films…
Karthik – MR & AN
Vijayakumar – AN
Sathyaraj – Pagal Nilavu
Murali – Pagal Nilavu
Revathi – Mouna Ragam
Janakaraj – Nayagan
Nasser – Roja
Madhu – Roja
Children – Anjali & KM
Prashant – Thiruda Thiruda
SPB – Thiruda Thiruda
Shah Rukh – Dil Se
Manisha Koirala – Bombay and Dil Se
Shalini – Alai payuthe
Abhishek – Yuva and Guru
Anand add Mohan in Mounaraagam to list, considering most of the time, i had seen in some forgettable Boy Meets Girl in Ooty flicks. It was a totally different performance from Mohan there.
@ Ratnakar- yes both Mammootty & Mohanalal have died in a few movies.And the audience in Kerala is a lot more understanding than the audience in T.N or A.P.Thats why I said the issue is more of an urban legend according to me
But its highly difficult to show a Rajnikant or a Chiru die.Slightly off topic but in Ramana – Vijaykant is sent to the gallows at the end, his fans didnt like it.But Murugadoss did not change the ending.But in case of the telugu version, Tagore, Chiru does not die
Sethu, ending of Telugu version of Tagore was tailored to suit Chiru’s image. Sadly its this fan club culture that is ruining movies in A.P. Some time back the ending of Bobby had to be changed, because fans could not digest Mahesh Babu dying.
Chiru gave one of his best performances in Apathbandhavudu, but fans again made a huge noise, because it showed him as a normal person, and not the usual super hero kind. The problem, is these fans form hardly 5% of the movie going audience, and yet they exercise such a disproportionate influence. If only fan power decided a movie fate, so many movies of Balakrishna, wud not have been such disasters.
Ratnakar what you say is very very true.Chiru is a wonderful actor and movies like Apathbandhavudu & Rudra Veena clearly showcased his acting.But then later on he was unable to come out of the mass image.Same goes for Rajnikanth.Today Vijay is very proud to admit that he would never do any offbeat role & would stick to his mass image.as long as this fan culture continues like this, the situation wouldn’t really change.
One of my friends, just to prove this “alternate climax” legend, made us watch that shootout scene quite a few times in slo-mo..And frm that it seemed quite believeable…And to back his story he mentioned ‘Adhisiya Piraivi’ ..In some theatre Fans tore the screen apart because Rajni died early on…or is that a rumour as well ??
btw, Has anyone scrutinised that shootout scene with this perspective ???
“In some theatre Fans tore the screen apart because Rajni died early on…or is that a rumour as well ??”
Has to be a rumour, in fact dont even think this is an urban legend. During my stay in Chennai, weekends were spent having a booze at some one’s room and discussing movies, left, right, center. We always had a lot on Rajni, but dont recall any one bringing this up.
I guess VPJ, could throw more light on this.
Bala,Ratnakar- I can answer that one.
In Athisiya Piravi , Rajni doesnt really die.Its a remake of Jeetendra’s Lok Parlok, so you seem him dying & going to Heaven & Hell and all that.But ultimately its all a dream.In fact the movie bombed miserably.So the fans might have torn the screen since they found the movie to be too bad for them & not otherwise
Sethu,
Gud one…
But its not a dream as u said.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athisaya_Piravi
What about the shootout scene? Any scrutinies??
Checked the link for AP, hey Sethu, this one was a remake of Chiru’s Yamudu ki Mogudu, not Lok Parlok. Jeetu’s Lok Parlok was a remake of the late NTR’s Yama Gola, which itself was a rehash of NTR’s earlier movie Devanthakudu.
BTW Yamuduki Mogudu was a runaway success in Telugu.
Bala have seen the shootout scene from Thalapathy many times. If we take the sequence its like this Mamooty and Rajni go to Arvind Swamy’s place to surrender. Mammoty informs Arvind Swamy he is willing to surrender, and he is doing it for his friend. Thats when Amrish Puri and his men attack. From what i can recall, Mammooty shields Rajni from the bullets fired, and dies. But dont recall much continuity issue here. Maybe will have to see this scene again to get a better idea.
Its been 3 yrs since that whole argument etc happened. All I can remember is that the scene doesn’t show Mammooty getting shot..and Rajni shielding him..something like that..I’m not very confident though….Will try to check it out again…hmmm… another 3 hrs 2b spent on MR-IR eulogy…All blame on u, Ratnakar…Thanks anyway.
In my last cmnt..I meant that the scene showed Rajni shielding Mammooty..smthing like tat…
Bala,Ratnakar- yeah sorry there AP is Yamudu Ki Mogudu all right & not Lok Parlok.Anyways my argument anyway remains that its not like Rajni dies as such.I just confused the source.Anyways its been ages that one actually remembered AP
Come to think of it Ratnakar, audiences in A.P somehow seem to have a big connect with the Yam/Yamlok theme.All movies like Devanthakudu,Yamudu Ki Mogadu,Yamadonga,Yamagola malli modalindi have all done well.
Regarding the shootout scene as far as I remember it is Rajni shielding Mammootty & not the other way.In fact initially the audience is led to believe that Rajni has been shot at while actually it is Mammootty who gets shot.
Sethu,
“Regarding the shootout scene as far as I remember it is Rajni shielding Mammootty & not the other way.In fact initially the audience is led to believe that Rajni has been shot at while actually it is Mammootty who gets shot.”
Contradicting urself????
and tats what I meant…Its shown that Rajni’s being shot at..but turns out that Mammootty gets shot..So…that “turning out” gives credence to the “Urban Legend”.
Still..as I said earlier..not sure of the scene now..But was almost convinced back then.
Ok i have watched this scene again. If you take the flow of events its like this
1) Rajni and Mamooty come to Arvind Swamy to surrender.
2) Mamooty tells Arvind he is giving himself up.
3) Rajni watches Amrish Puri’s hitman, trying to shoot Mamooty.
4) Rajni shields Mammoty from the bullets, jumping on him, he is shot in leg, back, and shoulder. For a moment every one and even audience assumes Rajni is dead.
5) Rajni gets up, and assures them, its fine, and then he asks Mamooty to get up.
6) Thats where he finds Mamooty is dead.
Now i think this shift does give credence to the theory that the climax was altered. Not just this, right after this Rajni, though badly injured, goes to Amrish Puri’s hide out, and kills every one, including Amrish. I think this was done to satisfy Rajni’s fans.
Bala thanks for raising the question. Of course all said and done, my opinion on movie remains unchanged.
Ratnakar,
Thanks a lot.
Now, I’ll have to watch the movie again at any cost. Was planning to watch Iruvar this wknd…But that can wait…
And yes…I defintely don’t want to change your opinion. The ‘frame by frame surgery’ that we’d done should tell you how much we adored the movie. Some movies just mix with your blood…and when u ‘ve a group that have such movies in common..Then ….
“yen Surya??”
“Nanban na ennannu theriyuma unnakku?”
“Indha Suriya na ennannu theriyuma unnakku??”
etc. become part of ur lingo.
Can’t wait for the weekend… :-)
Bala-
no contradiction here at all.I think Ratnakar has captured the flow of what I wanted to say very clearly.I also was trying to tell you that it is Rajni who shields Mammootty & not vice versa.And since Rajni is in front, he’s shown as getting shot & we think its he who’s dead.Turns out that he doesnt really die & so he thinks that when he’s alive, Mammootty whom he’s shielded should be alive too- but alas he’s dead.
Ratnakar- thanks for watching it again & validating what my opinion.Once again a brilliant movie & we can keep going on & on about it.Thats the beauty of such movies!!!
Rajini fans tearing up the screen is a part of legend that gets propagated to make the theatre owners feel scared – so that when a once more request comes from the fans – the theatre owners would oblige.
As a side note – when Rajadhi raja was released in chennai – suburb mookambikai theatre – I witnessed heavy commotion from the fans to get in and in the process many chairs and windows were broken – by some irate fans who found their ‘reservations’ already usurped. However theatre owners did not mind it for the movie ran like crazy and made a lot of money for them.The alternate ending was also a myth and was propogated to make more people see the movie as the movie sagged after first 15 days.
My brother and myself went to see thalapathy and we initially did not like it much as it was too slow for a Rajini movie. Successive viewings have completely changed my opinion of this movie. Rajini has been overlooked as an actor because of the presence of Kamalhassan. If you revisit his works in ‘Nallavanukku Nallavan’, ‘Engeyo Kaetta Kural’ anyone is bound to change their opinion on Rajini – an effortless performer who relies on subtle expressions and unobtrusive elegance – who had to play to the galleries in masala and appear like a clown for commercial purposes. Hope is to see Mani and Rajini together again post Enthiran in a new format. He has expressed his wish to be the same.
Regarding Mammootty – Post Azhagan, Thamizh audiences really warmed up to Mammootty and with CBI diary kurippu becoming a rage in chennai – Ran in Safire for 100 days (Sad that the theatre had to be closed due to litigations) he was no stranger to Thamizh cinema and he did a stellar turn. The collector office confrontation scene was simply awesome and if you closely observe it is a confrontation in which Rajini loses – Arvind Swamy wins and as a fan(I was in my 10th standard and by default a Rajini fan) I was disappointed. Then Mammootty steps in and ends the standoff in a majestic note that cheered me up. I was terribly pissed of with Arvind Swamy’s prominence in the movie – however later went on to like his performance – completely fearless and suave.
Special mention is deserved here for the veteran Srividya – sad that she passed away last year – Amazing artiste – to play the first mother in thamizh screen with a ‘past’ , blemish – total departure from the grammars of on screen moms held tight till then.
Other stellar performance cut short was that of Bhanupriya’s and that of Geetha. There has never been a heavier ensemble than this in thamizh cinema. Both these artistes had a grouse that their roles were cut short in the edited version of the movie. There was an awesome song between Rajini and Bhanupriya ‘Puththambudhu poo poothadho’ one that I regard as the best song in the album sung by KJY and S.Janaki that did not find its place in the edited version of the movie. I was very angry with Mani for that as a Raja fan. All the screen space that awesome song could find was a theme that played in the background when Bhanupriya comes to Rajini’s house after marriage. It still gives me a hair rising experience.
On a side note – SPB remarked in an interview that for this movie Raja had requested GV (the producer and brother of Mani who later committed suicide) for recording the songs and BGM in Bombay’s multitrack stereo recording studio and a huge ensemble orchestra that usually played for RDB. Post recording of songs the musicians were angry with SPB and Raja. When SPB asked, one of the musicians seemingly quipped that they were never used to a singer singing all the songs so quickly and a music director who came to the recording with 100% complete score sheets and they usually expected the session to drag on as usual for more ‘allowance’. That shows the proficiency and thoroughness behind the geniuses of Raja, SPB, KJY and S.Janaki. Another reason why Raja never experimented too much with new voices – coz he had no need of it – to train a voice, make it thorough and professional like SPB or KJY.
Jai that was a real value addition of a comment. Have not seen Rajadhi Raja, but did hear from a lot of my friends in Chennai, of how during the first day first show of a Rajni movie, its virtually impossible to hear the dialogues because of the noise. Matter of fact, i never liked Thalapathy much in first viewing. But later the movie just grew on me slowly, and right now its one of my favorites. I think Rajni’s commercial, masala flicks, have obscured some of his wonderful acting efforts, especially in earlier KB movies like Apoorva Ragangal, Moondru Mudichu. Also loved his performance in Mullum Mullarum, saw it on DD some time back, where he plays Shobha’s loving brother. The movie was later remade as Pyaari Behna in Hindi, starring Mithun.
Srividya is a really underrated actress, she could express a lot just with her eyes. I still remember the climax of Apoorva Sahadoragal, when Kamal looks at her, asking whether he cud shoot Nagesh down. She speaks nothing, but just remembers all the past events, and just nods her head, that one expression conveying so much.
Jai- that was a great read.Yes thanks to you I’m reminded of the ” putham puthu poo puthado” song once again.KJ Yesudas was fabulous as usual.In fact Rajni was very fortunate- he had SPB for the regular punch kind of songs, Malaysia Vasudevan for the “diff” feel once in a while for effect & KJY for the sentimental & mushy stuff.Yes Mammootty became a hero in an individual capacity in tamil cinema with Mounam Sammadham & Azhagan but had become popular with his hit malayalam movies like CBI Series, August 1st, New Delhi,Nair Saab,Iyer the Great etc which all did very well in Chennai & Coimbatore especially.That Mammootty has acted with giants like K.B & Mani and also with popular directors like R.K.Selvamani & Lingusamy is proof of his popularity.The songs, BG score, camera work,performances ,direction all put together made the movie a complete package.
For watching Rajni the performer- Nallavannaku Nallavan,Engayo Ketta Kural,Aaril Irundhu Aruvdhu Varai,Raghavendra etc & one will be amazed.Even in movies like Dharmadhurai & Annamalai the actor could marginally be seen.But its sad that while Baasha took Rajni the star to the stratosphere, it buried Rajni the actor so firmly that he is still struggling to get up.
Bala, i guess iruvar shd not wait. I rate it as manii’s best movie and mohanlal’s best performance ever excluding vaanaprastham
Ratnakar: Would request you to watch the scene once again. Rajini is not shot thrice. He gets only one hit in his arm and he shouts in pain after that(he shouts just once indicating that he is hit only once). Later on when he visits Amrish Puris house, his one arm is kept close to the body to indicate that he is hit in that arm. He uses only one hand to hit Amrish Puri. So the urban legend is just that…an urban legend. Mani is too professional to do this kind of a mistake. Had the climax been changed after it was shot, he would have reshot the entire climax.
Ratnakar,
How u come you missed that “Bhogi” metaphor…One of the most moving moments come out of this one. When Surya’s tellin his story to the little girl..Also, the scene after title credits end.
Anand, i did see the scene, and i recall him being shot in the back. But still as u say, it cud be an Urban Legend, as VPJ pointed out, done by Rajni fans themselves. But yes the ending i think was somewhat made keeping Rajni’s fans interests in mind, though dont have any issues with it. The greatness of a movie is when people discuss about it, giving differing perspectives on the same scene, and on that count Thalapathy scores.
maargazhi dhaan odiyaachu bhogiyaachu ho hoi
naaLaikkuththaan thai porakkum thaedhiyaachu ho hoi
and the awesome percussion and flutes…
Raaja Raaja dhaan (Raaja is the King).
Mani Sir always brings the best out of his crew, be it his actors, the music director, the director of photography, the choreographers, lyricists or may be even a spotboy. Often, he has been criticised that he uses the best talent in the industry, thats why everything looks good in his movies… But I beg to differ. A good director is the one who gets the best from his team… Being the captain of the ship, he knows how to extract and bring out the talent of each and every individual he works with. It requires great ability to identify and tap the right creative talent from the individual. Hats off to Mani Sir.
Manju, will its not just having the talent, its how you use it thats important. Be it PC Sriram or Santosh Sivan, their best works have come in Mani’s movies. And he manages to bring out the best in his actors. U can say whatever u want about the way he conveniently ends his movies, or his more conventional views, but the way he manages to get his crew members to perform to their best is something always admirable.
One of few movies in which Rajini the actor stands out rather than Rajini the superstar.Thanks to Manirathnam