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 Suriya – a star son – non-starter in thamizh films…
Suriya - before Nandhaa
And Bala made him a character…
he made him as Nandhaa.
And now joins this list a young dashing star…
Arya as we saw him on screen last
willing to dedicate himself to Bala to become an actor…
Arya - unrecongnisable as Rudran in soon to be released Naan Kadavul
I would like to call this … Passion for Cinema.
Tags: Arthur Wilson, Arya, Bala, Illaiyaraaja, Suriya, Tamil Cinema, Vaalee, vikram
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
Well compiled..! It goes to show how much the mere physical appearance can turn actor into a convincing character.!
Jai- Yes not only does Bala have Passion for Cinema, he also brings out the passion among his lead actors too.Arya has been very committed to the project & I hope he goes places with this film.Hoping to see the Bala magic again with this movie.
Sethu – Whats your take on the music?
Anand- the music is truly different & very much spot on for the kind of movie I expect Naan Kadavul to be.I am big fan of Ilayaraja & he hasnt disappointed me.But if you ask me when compared to the music of Bala’s other 3 films- Sethu,Nanda & Pithamagan I feel this was the toughest to compose.Also this would not find acceptance from the bulk of the moviegoers spontaneously.The music has to be heard repeatedly until it grows on you.I think after the movie releases, the music will find wider acceptance.
Almost 300 days of shooting… The climax itself was shot for a period of 60 days.. ZOMG.. Its rumoured that Bala has shot 2 endings, 1 is cannibal like…
Illaiyaraaja’s music are not about wider acceptance Sethu. It is deeper impact! With this sorta theme I am sure we will get it.
Jaiganesh- I’ve myself admitted that I like the music.Deeper impact yes – but its not enough if only a few people like you & me feel it.I know the music is in line with the demands of the movie & I’m sure when the movie is out the impact will be felt by a lot many more people.
Interestingly Ajit was supposed to do Naan Kadavul, but dropped out (why?). If this turns out to be a watershed in Arya’s career, Ajit will rue his decision/luck/circumstances.
Because if anyone needs/needed a break, its Ajit. Seven years now, he has been in a rut and unlike Vijay masala remake fueled orgy (via Gilli, Pokkiri etc) this was not a rut that made money for his producers.
As for the music of Naan Kadavul, it still has not tugged my heartstrings like Sethu and Pithagamagan did. But then, I don’t remember right now if watching those movies raised the soundtrack to newer levels. So am willing to wait till I see the movie before i pass judgment on teh soundtrack, just in case.
It is not just the fact that Ajit has been replaced. In his blog, writer Jeyamohan who has given significant inputs to the story and written the dialogues, claims that Ajit got the concept of ‘Naan Kadavul’ (Aham Brahmasmi) wrong. The discussions on the subject matter in Thamizh literary forums has reached curious metaphysical meanings. I hope that the story will be clearly grounded and concepts presented in clear unambiguous fashion.
Anantha,Jaiganesh-
Ajit was supposed to do Nerruku Ner,Nandha,Ghajini & also Ayutha Ezhuthu.But the guy is still there & he’s still in demand.Jai apart from the reason you’ve mentioned there’s another reason for Ajith not doing Naan Kadavul.
Actually if you guys remember the movie kept getting delayed regularly & the start of shooting itself started got delayed for a lot of reasons.Ajith if you remember had grown his hair
( for more than 6 months- 2005-06) he kept the long hair intact in his movies – Paramasivan,Thirupathi& also partly in Varalaaru.But when the wait seemed to get longer Ajith had to take a call- maintain his long hair & other paraphernalia ( beard etc) for Naan Kadavul or abandon it & get into the right conditions for doing his other movies – Kireedom & Billa.
Both the movies required Ajith to feature in different getups.Kireedom had him as a police aspirant so he had to look trim & proper.Billa was all gloss & style- so for that it was an alltoegther different demand.So Ajith had to make a choice between the artisitically superior Naan Kadavul and the commercial blockbuster that Billa could have been.
All of us know what Billa has done to Ajith- it has brought him back into reckoning.If he had gone in for Naan Kadavul then he might have had to miss Kireedom & Billa.
So I guess Ajith took a calculated risk.Remember Arya had only one release in between the shoot of Naan Kadavul- Oram Po.And that Oram Po released then because it was already delayed.So for Arya it was a good risk to take, for Ajith the stakes were slightly loaded against him.
All said & done- would have been lovely to see Ajith in Naan Kadavul.It’s been long since I’ve seen the actor in him.These days I only get to see the star in him.Hopefully after he completes his project with Saran ( sure shot masala), his project with Venkatprabhu should see the actor in him return again.
@ Anantha- Ajith gave Billa.. Were you slleping when the movie ran amok for many days.. Please spare this site of your personal vendetta. There are many other sites we will fight it out there… He didnt do this movie because it was a non-starter for many days. He will regret the decision thats for sure..
@ Sethu
Has there been ever a sure shot masala?
nyways, I was happy in more than one way that the role has been done by an actor instead of a star.
I dont think that such a role should be left in the hands of a star and his grumbling fans. Arya has, from the looks in the stills poured himself into the role and the role – which could turn out to be an extension of Pithamagan’s Siththan is extremely physical which Ajith’s already multiple fractured body cannot take.
you are absolutely right Sethu… He had actually lost weight altough he suffers from numerous injuries and has n number of surgeries in his back.. You cant question his dedication to a film..
Jai-
Look at the movies done by Ajith-Saran ccmbo-
Kadhal Mannan,Amarkalam & Attagasams.So I have no doubt that Asal Ajith’s next with Saran will again be a masala entertainer.All the movies done by the combo have entertained.And considering the movie is produced by Sivaji productions its almost definite that the movie would be a masala entertainer.I have no problem with that.But hope to see the actor in him with Venkatprabhu’s next after his Goa.
Jaiganesh: You have a link to Jeyamohan’s blog? IMHO, every one of Bala’s movies so far has seen such debates. I dont think this one will be any different. Honestly, I am going to watch this movie as a double header. I’ll watch Naan Kadavul and watch something utterly brainless. Otherwise, I’ll probably spend the next week in depression
Yup, I agree with the Ajit argument. I did not know what his circumstances were to drop Naan Kadavul. And having been here in the US for sometime now, I have not been in touch that much with Tamil movies and in any case with Ajit, who I swore off after watching Citizen and Red back to back one day in ‘01. So my opinion is admittedly prejudiced.
Anantha-
If you saw Citizen & Red back to back I cannot blame you
I think Citizen was still ok, but Red was a big embarassment those days.In the recent past I would say you can watch Villain & Attagasam purely as good time pass movies.Varalaru had glimpses of the actor in him- it was amazing to see a non dancer like him pull of an effeminate Bharatnatyam dancer so well in it.Kireedom & Billa are also decent to watch.But the others in between of course cannot be recommended.
http://jeyamohan.in
this is Jeyamohan’s blog – all in thamizh.
Jai- good to see the blog of Jeyamohan.
Will go through it in leisure sometime soon.
Balas movie has always been dark and depressing, and with the various rumours this might shock us. As some one said one of the climax is supposed to be cannibal like, but not sure if bala is gonna use that one for the theaterical release. Havent heard the music yet, but it is sure to grow on us once the movie is out. The movie was supposed to release during pongal, but looks like its not releasing out. And with the various review pointing out Villu to be another biggest dud, there is nothing left to watch yet other than yet another masala boiler in ‘Padikathavan’. Its a shame that captains ‘Engal Aasan’ couldnt make it too :P
With respect to Ajith, he is some one with real dedication and some decent talent, yet i feel lacks script sense and unforutnately is surrounded with wrong set of people with a set of wrong ideas. So its a pity that he is mostly seen in masala potboilers rather than some really good movies.
Another interesting tidbit from jeyamohan’s blog – He says that Naan Kadavul is an action film set in unusual backdrop – the hero is very much a super hero and since Bala’s mind is violent, he has thought up and expressed a very violent story. In this aspect, Bala is very different from other film makers. He is not able to let go of the violent thoughts and his channeling of those violent thoughts into beautifully crafted films make him a very unique film maker. When Maniratnam – who seldom attends film functions finds time to attend the music release of Balas’ film and claims to be a ‘Bala fan’, it speaks volumes of his abilities and achievments.