Saroja: Review

A thriller again, in the history of Tamil cinema. A predictable storyline leading to a ‘lived happily ever after’ ending. Yet, Venkat Prabhu has succeeded in keeping the audience biting their finger nails or if they are hygiene freaks, he brought them to the seat edges for a considerable part of the movie. Premji Amaran scores brownie points for his timely untimely dialogues, especially when he mimics the super star and the super star aspirant Vijay. My wishful thinking is that he teams up with Sandhanam of lollu sabha fame and does a full fledged serious comedy.

Venkat Prabhu has carefully avoided the traditions of a typical Tamil cinema thriller.
-A drum beat follows every footstep of the bad guy
-A close-up shot of a hand touching the hero’s shoulder, he turns around shocked and bang comes ‘Intermission’
-Rotating colour lights on the villain’s face (this gives me the creeps)
-Good cop gives a sermon to the bad cops and they all magically turn good.
None of these theatrics and extra terrestrial gimmicks. The extraordinary thing about the movie is it is so ordinary.

What could have been better:

-The engagement song: looked more like one of Ekta Kapoor serials with everyone clad in a red sari with heavy makeup and jewellery.
-Saroja’s accent: the school girl hardly got a complete line to speak and could have well avoided her Junoon Tamil accent.
-Jayaram’s last minute change of character: a time tested formula.

Mothathil, Saroja – Oru Mulliladha Roja.
Adutha varam, meendum top 10 -il sandhipom, vanakkam.

Dear Jayaram Sir

Dear Jayaram Sir,

This is not a hate mail or blackmail from Mamootty / Mohanlal fan club. Just an ordinary letter / madal / kadidham/ kadidhame from your yet another fan. First things first. You did a good perfo in Saroja. When I first saw you in the movie, I expected a roller coaster ride of laughter from you. In seconds, it was clear that you would be donning the serious cop role and no complaints; u did full justice to it. But, do you (you too, with all your experience) have to fall into the trap of commercial cinema giving the tale a final twist, that too a legendary ‘friend turning foe for money’? More to it, do you have to give the villainous laugh when you got hold of ‘Saroja’ in the end? Sorry Sir, we laughed when u laughed gritting your teeth and making a slack jawed dialogue. You could have well called it a day when Saroja came back to you finally.

Reliable sources tell me that you pulled out a similar stunt in Dhaam Dhoom as well. I haven’t seen the movie, but if u can take a suggestion, here it is:

‘Erumbuda, kadikudhu, Soriyakoodadha?’ …. Remember this? Arguably (because of Yugi Sethu) the best of 5 in Panchathanthiram, you did this role with such ease and finesse. And that’s what suits you well. There are other well crafted actors in your fraternity, like Nasser and Prakash Raj, who would be perfect for this Namak haraam role.

Expecting a more realistic performance in your next movie.
~SVS.

PS: You may wish to forward this letter to Mr.Venkat Prabhu for his benefit also.

Dears

Dear Patrons!
Ha! All of 5 posts and my vanity is getting the better of me already… I stand corrected. So,

Dears!

For those of you who wish to exercise Freedom of expression in the Comments Section of my blog, I hereby grant you total liberty to go ahead. Feel free to discuss the Indo Pak relationship, or analyze the recent debacle of the Aussie Cricket Team or post Love to Hate mails to SRK and Ash.

However, it is my utmost duty to let you all know that the comments are scrutinized by the moderator of this blog before they get published. After all, she has no other choice left as The Monsieur has the password and her folks still think of her as a Chamathu Ponnu. You get the drift right? Super.

~SVS.

The Thing About the Future

“Here is the thing about the future. Every time you look at it, it changes, and that changes everything else."

How is it for a thought? Nicholas Cage's well delivered dialogue in NEXT. He enacts a man who can look 2 minutes into the future. Sees his girl shot down and saves her on time. A sci fi movie diluted with commercial material. The scene where he replicates himself and goes in search of his girl is a good one. Otherwise, nothing mindblowing in a so called sci-fi action flick.


There is a demanding premise running through the entire movie. And that is 'If you can see the future, you can save it.' which incidentally is the movie's tagline.


Here's some thought: If you see the future, and you change it, then, What you saw as the future, will no longer be the future. Right?

The Idiot Box and the Not So Idiotic Shows

Statutory Warning: Do not expect any mega-serials in this list.

1. Kalakapovadhu Yaaru: A sensible program on Vijay TV, which is religiously replicated in all the other channels. Yet, this is the best. Shivakarthikeyan and Gokulnath steal the show every time. S Ve Shekar did justice to his role as the judge. He is not to be seen these days. Uma Riaz proved herself through her extended cameo in Anbe Sivam. And continues to do the same here. Go easy on your makeup lady!

2. Champions of the World: An ‘eat cricket, sleep cricket, drink cricket’ quiz show hosted by the versatile Harsha Bogle. His charm, grace and the way he teases college kids with his out-of-the-world cricket questions are a must watch.

Here are a few sample questions he throws at the show. ‘How many people in Stand B gave a standing Ovation when Azharuddin hit his first century’ or ‘Connect the following fast bowlers: A, B, C, D’. Don’t you know. All these bowlers swing their arms 5 times before delivering the ball. Out of the world right? That’s what the show is all about.

3. BSNL Sports Quiz: Sumanth C Raman, who hosts this program since time immemorial, is South India’s Harsha Bogle. I haven’t seen anyone talk so fast and so clearly at the same time. Not one to mince words even once, he is a tad better than Harsha as his syllabus covers the entire sports encyclopaedia.

4. Bournvita Quiz Contest: Need I even say anything?

5. Crazy Mohan Shows: Anyday, Anytime.

6. Lollu Sabha: A movie spoof program. Trying hard not to lose its TRP as the main actors are offered meatier roles on the silver screen.

7. Koffee with Karan : Don’t judge Karan Johar by his fairytale movies. He is brilliant and witty in real life. See how actors fare when they are asked to speak their own dialogues.

Lara Dutta wins hands down. What spontaneity. What humor!

Aishwarya: Diplomatic

Shahrukh : Dramatic

Himesh : Pathetic

8. Koffee with Anu: Star World’s adaptation of the above program for its south Indian cousin Star Vijay. Saroja Team did a one-of-the-sorts good show.

9. Hari Giri Assembly: Two college seniors Bhaski and Sethu ragging the freshers who incidentally are eminent people mostly from the film fraternity.

10. Tony B Show: A lighter version of the above program on Channel V. Shankar Mahadevan was laudable. The opponent has to be a real sport to handle Tony B’s interview. Otherwise, it becomes a flop like the one with Manish Arora.

11. F.R.I.E.N.D.S: Of course.

Navarathri

Navarathri - My favorite season of the year. Appa chants the Suktham with reverence. I sit beside him looking at the Golu Mandap. Every time the name Janani comes in the sloka, he turns and looks at me with a twinkle in his eyes. I rejoice and smile back. I was 10 then.

I am 24. The scene has not changed. Appa continues to chant the Shuktham every day of Navarathri. And, we still share silent twinkles whenever my name comes in the sloka.

Navarathri is one grand celebration at home. This is my personal favorite among all the festivals. Not for no reason. All these 10 days, the ladies in the household are believed to be representatives of the Durga Mata. Perippa and Perimma would do special somethings for me as I am the daughter they never had. All my pranks with VKR are forgiven; No clauses attached.

The festivities start during our Quarterly holidays when Amma gets her free time, time away from her school work. All four of us get involved while setting up the golu mandap. The mud dolls are wrapped in clean cotton clothes which turn out to be our old dresses. Unfolding every doll from the tiny dress pieces brings nostalgic memories to Amma Appa. Besides nostalgia, Appa gets Nasal Allergy too, whenever a box is opened. I and VKR know the stories by heart, but every year we would make them recite it again.

The dolls unpacked, the Golu Stage set, a magnificent 7 stage mandap brings a new look to the hall. Of the rare things that interests Amma, arranging the Golu is one. Besides arranging the golu, she gives her special touch by setting up a park next to the mandap. The park is usually a township starting with a clay hill in the corner of the hall and roads diverging from it. My old dolls, VKR's cars and rockets, my kitchen set - all form a part of this township. Amma's special effects come handy now. She would place a glass palace in the middle of the township with all the tiny bottles she had collected from pharmacies (those lil transparent ones used to fill syringes). The building blocks we once played with would become the houses and the animals and birds set would form the zoo. The paper coffee cups would be miniature flower pots where she had sown pulses that would shoot up and grow as plants in the days to follow.

The arrangement is done. As the evening approaches, Amma decorates her darling son and daughter (thats me and VKR), sends them out to invite neighbours. Imagine two innocent kids dressed up as Radhe Krishna or as the policeman and his wife (this is VKR's fav as he gets to use the whistle attached with the dress) and what not, repeating the rehearsed dialogue at every house in the street. 'Aathula Golu Vachirkom. Avasyam Vaango'. All the neighbours turn up. There had been occasions when we went over enthu and ended up inviting people we barely knew, insisting that they come home to see the golu. The actual secret is we had lost our way and we had to be chauffered back to our place.

Its fun back home. A ladies special get-together. Appa wears a solemn face and smiles at everyone. When the preliminary inspection of the Golu is done, the gossip exchanges start. Amma is one of the two rare women who does not gossip. She dreads it when some aunty starts 'Ungalukku theriyuma teacher?'. It is impossible to hold back our giggles seeing amma trying to remain patient till the session is over.

The day ends when we get to taste the sundal varieties we gathered from our 'Nagarvalam' and thereby judge the culinary skills of their makers.

Today, I am in a land where the day dawns 5 hours ahead. Its almost lunch time here when my folks back home would still be hearing the morning news. … Called up Appa.

'Janani, ippo dhaan pooja mudinjadhu. Unna dhaan nenachinden.'

'Theriyum pa', I say.

Rules of certain games remain forever.

Shri Suktam