[Link to video]

Thanks to ‘vivekforbes’, we get to see Kamal as we have never seen before! This footage compiled during Virumaandi, starts with a sarcastic dig at the politician who opposed the original name of ‘Sandiyar’ and moves onto show Kamal’s passion in direction, stunts and music. The source of the video is unknown.

[Via HAL]

Here’s a long, wonderful 2-part interview with Kamal done quite a while ago, by S Shiva Kumar. Shiva has been featured in multiple publications (including The Hindu. Times of India and Rediff.com), now has a blog and his admiration for Kamal comes through effortlessly. An earlier post on this blog provided delightful insights from Vishnuvardhan, the Kannada superstar, through the same journalist. We’ll have more from him in the future too.

Now, back to Kamal and the interview. From the focus on Hey Ram and direction, we can see that it was done around the turn of the millenium. Here are some highlights from a quote-collector’s delight:

I am not even rising above mediocrity. I am mediocre and have kept myself that way.

I keep trying because I’m a student of cinema and a film buff…I don’t care.

About this closet direction, no. Mine was a glass case. Everyone knew.

Even now, for me, the making of the film is more important. It doesn’t matter who gets the title. I can afford to say that because I have my face printed on celluloid.

I never wanted to be an actor. I love my crew. I want to be with them, not rise above them. Rising above them is easy. You become a tyrant, a genius or an eccentric. You rise above them and they give you a misnomer. They’ll call you a tyrant, a genius and vice versa.

Whenever I ask myself what stage of career I’m in right now, I don’t really know the answer. It’s very confusing.

I may not act at all. That’s what I tell people, but nobody takes me seriously. I might slip behind the camera. It would have happened if Hey! Ram had succeeded.

I used to be a common man and all that I’ve achieved is not real. It’s all piled on to me; it’s acquired.

My themes are very repetitive…Mine is a man’s suffering and his struggle to rise above it.

For the last 15 years, it’s my neck on the line every time. Nobody has the audacity to talk about personal losses, if at all there is any.

This dancing and prancing around and romancing heroines is on request. It comes absolutely from the audience. They want one dance and the request comes from someone in Silicon Valley

I expected from Hey! Ram whatever I expected from all my other films — success.

Even if you say I made Hey! Ram, it wouldn’t be completely right. It is not possible to do it alone. My cameraman, my art director and my costume department are equally important. I could sleep well at night because I had this crew….I don’t say this out of humility. I’m confident I would have made Hey! Ram without the Thirus and Sarikas, but that’s an arrogant way of looking at it. It would have moved away inch by inch from whatever little perfection we’ve achieved.

I felt it was high time someone at least felt sorry instead of licking their tongue like a Farex baby at the situation. That’s neither mamta (affection) nor sympathy.

It’s not chic to be a Gandhi fan. And it is clichéd to say Gandhi is a good man because it has been said a million times before. He is even on a damn rupee note. It is as boring as a non-detailed lesson. You are never going to get the moral of it till you get a detailed story.

…the debt is one’s own definition. Well, Rs 120 to Rs 150 million is a lot of money. I have to get it back and I am smiling. There’s no panic.

The only man I admire who transgressed is Spielberg. That must have been from (Francis Ford) Coppola, who must have been a great inspiration.

Especially Mani. I was astounded by him. I sort of vacillate sometimes. He never did. It’s probably that business management training. He’s very clear.

I am constantly in touch with Benegal because he’s my inspiration for Marudanayagam. He saw the script and his excitement was contagious. He thinks it is colossal and gave his suggestions. He’s a young man with a bald head. His spirit is great.

Govind and Manmohan Shetty, after Hey! Ram took a nosedive, had a small party, quietly and kept saying good things about the film. It was a touching gesture.

I recently saw a 25-year-old film. I was floored. It was shown on HBO and the film is Godfather. Absolutely classic…Performances do not have to be the latest when you’re looking at the greatest.

Move onto Shiva’s blog for the full interview.

Editor’s Note:

Here we have yet another new author, Zero. Please welcome!

On the Kamal A2Z series, we have ‘G’ this fortnight. If anyone wants to reminisce about Guru or Geraftaar, e-mail your entries! The next fortnight, we’ll move onto ‘H’ for Hey Ram; but let’s not forget Hare Radha Hare Krishna too.

A 2-minute long tracking shot takes us through a lower-end brothel in Hyderabad and ends showing Guna on the terrace (shot from below with ‘godly’ respect), standing on one leg. It is a Pournami (full moon day) and Guna is awaiting the arrival of Abhirami. He sees a bride going through the Jaanavaasa ceremony and mistakes her for Abhirami.

So starts Guna, one of the best films to have come out of Tamil Cinema in the last decade. This was the first of the twin efforts (the other being the great Mahanadhi) of Kamal Haasan with his friend Santhana Bharathi wielding the megaphone. Kamal packs in a superb team (Venu for cinematography, Balakumaran for dialogues, and of course Raaja). Yes, it is not a flawless film. But, it is the kind of film that stays on in your mind.

The film looks at this man Guna, with unconditional sympathy; how he is doomed in this big bad world; and in that sense, it is a cynical film. Guna is a madman (an obsessional psychoneurotic) who is told, by a fellow asylum-inmate (Ananthu), that Abhirami (the Goddess) will marry him on a full moon day and will take him out of all his miseries. There is this sense of godliness attributed to him in the movie — he can unlock anything like cars, safes etc. and help his uncle in his thefts. He wants to be cleansed (in the famous scene Guna explaining to the doctor about how Abhirami would ‘cleanse’ him). He unconditionally believes that he is God, and that only Abhirami can cleanse him. He believes in uniting with Abhirami, the Goddess (an imaginatory sequence shows the formation of the Lingam). So he kidnaps her; takes her along with him to a deserted church on top of a hill and explains his love for her, and their destiny.

The screenplay of the film – written by Saab John, a Kamal Haasan associate who also wrote Chanakyan and played the role of Narasimhan is Kuruthippunal) is of the highest standards as far as Tamil Cinema goes. It’s expertly woven, richly textured, and is subtle and doesn’t scream for our attention. Not to forget the insightful and yet realistic dialogues by Balakumaran. Ilaiyaraaja gives a great background score (most of the BGM pieces during chase sequences are liberally borrowed from Kamal Haasan’s two earlier flicks Aboorva Sagodharargal and MMKR). Kamal Haasan comes up with a truly wonderful performance, with the rest of the cast chipping in accordingly.

What is striking is that the film doesn’t melodramatize the state of Guna. It doesn’t put him in fake glory. It looks at him with a detached sympathy. Guna is after all, a madman and it never bats an eyelid to put forth the fact to us. He says he is in love with Abhirami and that she can never go leaving him behind. But, he still ties her giving a new reason each time.

Apart from this, the movie also works as a traditional thriller with an (albeit heavily stereo-typed) villain, CBI in chase, and lots of money at stake. As in every other KH film, the subtle humour is unmissable.

Looking at the mythological connections of the story, the key point in the film is how the usual assumed gender roles are reversed here. The mythology has this story of Parvathi, the Goddess, who takes human form because of a curse and eventually re-unites with Lord Shiva. We also have other examples like Meera and Aandaal. In Guna, the roles are reversed. It’s Guna who has taken an earthly form and yearning to unite with Abhirami. This is apparent in many scenes like the following:

1. Guna tying the thaali around his neck.
2. Guna looking reverently at ‘his’ thaali after Abhirami walks out of the car hanging at the edge of a mountain.
3. Guna waiting for Abhirami to complete her meal.
4. Or when Abhirami kisses Guna.

The story also owes the main thread of obsession towards the Goddess to the story of Abhirama Bhattar, who wrote Abhirami Anthathi. In a beautiful sequence, Rohini and Guna playfully pretend to be bees and buzz around in air (ending with the bees ‘kissing’ each other), and Abhirami asks Guna to tie the thaali (mangalsutra), Guna says they have to wait till Pournami. But, she says, “Nila aagasuthalaiya irukku? Manasula irukku. Manasu thaan nila. Neranja naal” (”Is the moon in the sky? It’s in the heart. The heart is the moon. Filled (?) day”)! Apart from serving as the point of culmination of their love, it also directly refers to the mythology itself. In the story of Abhirama Bhattar, Abhirami turns an Amavasai (new moon day) into a Pournami by throwing her ear-ring into the sky. Guna recollects the mythological incident, and says, “Aamaam! Abhirami sonna Pournami thaan” (”Yes! If Abhiram says, it is a full moon day”)!

And when the movie ends (with that divine and strangely soothing theme playing in the background), we see the deserted church in the bird’s eye view and the glowing moon behind it. It is the next Pournami (thus completing the cycle) and Guna has joined hands with his Abhirami. Or has he?

[Original post]

We have been talking about Chachi 420 aka Avvai Shanmughi quite a bit lately. So, this may not be a bad time to look back at an interview from that period. Yes, we had a Screen interview too; but let’s see what Kamal said on Rediff.com:

“The film will do well, I hope,” says Kamal Hasan, who is in Bombay for the release. And if it does become a hit, he hopes he will have a longer tenure in Bollywood than he did after that mega-grosser Ek Duje Ke Liye.

“It was a big mistake but let us not talk about all those controversies,” says Kamal Hasan.

“See, she had come in time; there were others waiting too. In fact, everyone had to wait for me to get ready because my make-up took quite some time to happen. There were all these senior artistes also waiting for me. They never cribbed. Then who is Ashwini, sir?”

“Sorry for the outburst,” eventually he says, contritely.

Flashback to 1958 or so…A little boy comes along with a doctor to treat a woman who is ill at the home of movie mogul A V Meyyappa Chettiar of the AVM Studios. Suddenly a man on the first floor of the bungalow begins shouting into a phone. The doctor is discomfited, but not young Kamal Hasan of Ramanathapuram. He strides up the stairway and tells the astonished noisemaker, “Please keep quiet. Don’t shout over the phone like that. Someone in the house is ill.”

“I have notes for every department, telling them what they should be doing for that particular shot. That makes things a lot easier,” he says.

“As a professional I may have achieved something, but I am an ordinary human being. I laugh, I get angry easily and do things much as others do. I’m not a star, I’m not different from others. Even if I like to think I am someone special, the fact is I’m not.”

“I have just been making films I want to. The audience has been pretty kind, watching and appreciating my films.”

Ellam Inba Mayam, made in 1981 (story, dialogues and lyrics: Panju Arunachalam) was in many ways a precursor to Kamal’s later movies. He dons a multi-character role, speaks different dialects and above all, explores a full-fledged light-hearted comedy for probably the first time. G. Rangarajan, the director, would go on to make another comedy Meendum Kokila with Kamal the same year and Maharasan a decade later. The setting and spirit of “Solla solla..” song (a perfect spoof of ‘disco’ songs of the period, resurrected on YouTube) was taken further in the evergreen “Ilamai itho itho…” in Sakalakala Vallavan, a year later.

The movie follows a hackneyed script but the Kamal takes the situational comedy to a level where we can forget the mindlessness of it all. In fact, the movie seems to have been made with the singular objective of showcasing Kamal’s acting talents with no regard to logic. His scenes with YG Mahendran are some of the best of the period, in terms of comic timing. Two examples: Kamal and YGM have just arrived at Madras, and are visiting the Gandhi statue at the Marina beach. As they remove their slippers and move to the statue, YGM remarks “Aasirvaadham vangippom. Yengayo avasarama poraru pola irukku..” (Let’s get his blessings. He seems to be in a hurry to go somewhere.). Later, when a prospective employer inquires about their competency, Mahendran explains, “Nalla saapiduvom“. The man then demands, “Appuram?”, to which Kamal replies without batting an eyelid, “Kai kazhuviduvom…” (the beauty will be lost in translation) – proving again what it takes to transform an ordinary script into an engaging act.

The Charlie Chaplin influence on Kamal is seen in this one too – probably for the first time on screen. The scene where Kamal and YGM dine at a local restaurant Chaplinesque to the core, especially the sequence where Kamal cannot stop his hiccups. The way he walks in the Basavappa character is again reminiscent of Chaplin’s films.

There are many elements of the village bumpkin character which Kamal seems to have retained in Kameshwaran of MMKR. The naivety, the walk, the awkwardness are all trademark Kameshwaran. Also of note is that for a typical masala movie, with villain and fights intact, there is no gore or even a single murder, much like Michael Madana Kama Rajan. Incidentally, both movies were produced by Panju Arunachalam’s P. A. Arts. Ellam Inba Mayam may not be one of Kamal’s best; but looking back, I am sure it has influenced his career path and his disposition to full-fledged comedies.

Editor’s Note: We’ll continue with ‘E’ for a fortnight as usual. But the next letter is ‘F’, which unfortunately has no movies. So, let’s catch up on what was left out from ‘A’ to ‘E’ during that time. Send in your entries!

Here are some photos from the launch function of Poi in 2005. It was Balachander’s 101st movie, produced by Prakashraj (aka Prakash Rai). The movie starred Uday Kiran and Vimala Raman.

Kamal is seen in Rama Shama Bhama get-up.

Check out more photos featuring Kamal, Rajni, Balachander and Prakashraj.

[Picture courtesy: BehindWoods]

With Chanakyan not coming up as part of the Kamal A2Z series yet, this might be a good time to hear from the old favourite’s director. Here’s an old interview from Rediff.com with Rajeev Kumar. Excerpts:

…I had this dream of making a film with mimicry as the background.

Finally, when I got my chance to make a film for Navodaya, I thought of my dream. As the director, I was very excited about the theme and the climax because I thought it was very unconventional.

…Then Navodaya fixed up an appointment with Kamal Haasan for me. I went there, met him and narrated the script. He agreed to do the film. Remember, I didn’t know him at all. I told him, “This is my first film and the producer has confidence in me. Similarly, you should have confidence in me. I cannot make any changes in the script as this is my first film and this is the way I want to make it.” He was very positive in his approach.

The advantage I had by making the film with Kamal was that nobody expected anything from him as he experimented with bold themes. Every twist in the story stunned the audience. That was why the film became a big commercial success. The film surprised the audience.

…Chanakyan was a success and was well appreciated. But the reality was something else. Not a single producer came forward with an offer because Chanakyan did not fall in the usual commercial category. They considered its success an accident.

I was worried. Then, I was asked to do a period film with Kamal. Kamal was very excited about the project but, after researching and working on the script for more than a year, it did not work out.

Editor’s Note: While it may not be a good idea to have the Hindi re-make follow the Tamil original, we hope that readers will understand that we are handicapped by the limited number of movies available for ‘C’. Anyone ready to do Chanakyan?

Kamal does not really favour re-makes though he has featured in quite a few on either side of the Vindhyas. Unlike many of his other movies, he quickly took Avvai Shanmughi Northwards. After a public spat with the designated director, Shantanu Sheorey, he took over the reins hesitantly, as he had planned a grand launch for himself with Hey Ram. Unlike his other recent ventures, he struck gold with Chachi 420. With back-to-back successes of Hindustani (dubbed from Indian) and this one, “Kamal Hassan” had returned to Bollywood. The movie endured other controversies too including its earlier names “Chikni Chachi” and “Stree 420“.

When I caught the movie on one of the Zee channels, I was a curious Tamilian who wanted to know what Kamal had done with the hit movie when it was ‘translated’ into Hindi. Overall, the movie managed to retain the commercial essence of the original. Crazy Mohan’s witty dialogues were too native and original to emulate though; they came up with stuff much above average. Also, to cater to a wide market, it took on a tinge of vulgarity with a few close-ups of the old lady’s bosom and a bedroom sequence involving the lead pair.

The more obvious difference was the actors. Kamal, of course, reprised his role, now in the avatar of a Marathi brahmin lady, Lakshmi Godbole. He went through his rigorous prosthetic make-up yet again to surprise the new set of audience with his drag act, while managing to do a Bihari with Jaiprakash Paswan. Moving onto other actors, Tabu played the role of Janki — a cake-walk for an actress of her calibre. She provided her own touch to the character, transitioning from a lover to a separated wife. For the key role played by veteran Gemini Ganesan, Kamal went for Amrish Puri. He fared better than he did in Viraasat (re-make of Thevar Magan), but the comic and romantic angle of Gemini was missing. Om Puri played Delhi Ganesh’s role in his own way and came out trumps. Paresh Rawal played the small role of a landlord, showing a glimpse of what he would unleash in several movies in the future. Nasser repeated his role in Hindi and was just okay. A different girl played the kid adequately while Ayesha Jhulka was nothing much to write about. The real piece of brilliance was bringing Johnny Walker out of retirement. He underplayed the role superbly and brought us back old memories.

The hit combination of Gulzar and Vishal Bharadwaj provided a different kind of music, while maintaining the light nature of the soundtrack. Kamal dared to sing Chachi’s number (”Jaago gori…“)  himself and did well, in the company of Asha Bhonsle. Gulzar also took care of the dialogues.

Looking back, Kamal provided Bollywood a taste of good comedies, which they are still bad at replicating.

Editor’s Note:
After giving “outside support” for a very long time, HAL debuts as an author on AllThingsKamal.info. A different kind of post — hope all of you enjoy. In the Kamal A2Z series, we move onto ‘C’ in a couple of days…

Avvai Shanmughi is one of the underrated comedies from Crazy-Kamal combo. K.S. Ravikumar’s first with Kamal. Which was to be followed by Thenali, a more slapstick humour and successful film, then Panchathanthiram with a taut script of events laced with verbal humour, and the much anticipated magnum opus, Dasavatharam.

Avvai Shammughi has an interesting premise, inspired by Mrs. Doubtfire, garnished and served in Indian platter. Not to sound hyperbolic — frankly the narrative is chalk and cheese, and the execution is much better in Tamil version. The film opens with Kamal’s monologue “Avvai T.K. Shanmugham avargal-ku idhu paadhai kaanikai“, the film is dedicated to T.K. Shanmugham (Kappalotiya Thamizhan, Ratha Paasam), Kamal’s mentor who was a famous theatre artist. The film is a tribute to Shamugham’s various female performances on stage.

It would suffice to say that his mentor Shamugham would have been proud with Kamal’s near-perfect portrayal of a pseudo-Maami, Pandian’s disguised act as Avvai Shanmughi - a brahmin granny as a nanny. The body language, the dialect and the expressions here are top-notch, making one wonder how he does it through layers of make-up and get-up where likes of Eddie murphy just fail(ed), or just falls short of perfection like Robin Williams. Kamal treads a fine line of balance as Pandian himself wouldn’t be completely versed on Brahmin etiquettes and behaviour, the ‘caricature’ effect that Pandian brings as Shanmughi is justified and perfect.

While Virumandi deals on the nihilism of marriage in a darker realistic paradigm, Mouli’s Pammal K Sambandham is all about ‘marriage’ in a more banter-like narrative, KSR’s Panchathanthiram is a roller-coaster ride of ‘marriage’ and Sathi Leelavathy is about adultery and a disrupted relationship, with the protagonist giving her best to save the marriage. Here we have two people who love and marry, but then arises the misfit of the classes, the rich Janaki (played by Meena) who could not lead a bourgeois married life with an assistant dance master (as she says, a “koothaadi” — Kamal cuts back with statements like “Natrajar” is a koothadi, the lawyer is a vaayaadi)..

Unlike PKS where Kamal plays an innocent stuntman (his only other role of a direct worker in the industry), tricked by Simran’s scheme for a more selfish purpose and a different reason. It’s quite the opposite here, with Kamal pulling his ‘act’ to be with his daughter, named Bharathi, after the great poet himself. The deceit here arises out of loneliness and love for his family. Then starts the fable.

For its theme, the film maintains the humour with no homosexuality or no sexist remarks. That’s a remarkable achievement in itself.

What’s with a Kamal comedy without Chaplin reference, Deva’s score here heavily lifts from Chaplin’s theme. The memorable piece that we associate with Chaplin certainly lifts the mood of the scenes. With Chaplinesque collage moments, from the daily routine of Pandian to Shanmughi to Pandian again, or the quick snippets of Pandian/Shanmughi dressing or undressing. Kamal’s gestural sequences have always been an indirect tribute to Chaplin.

And assumed identity? Pandian-Shanmughi aside, there’s another inclusion in Pandian’s friend Bhai (played by Nasser), a chef becoming a mute Iyer cook (hence avoiding the ‘accent’ misfit). There is an hilarious moment when when he blabbers, and it’s assumed to be ‘gothra‘. (Kamal, as always, brings a slight dose of atheism at places, in a more subdued way here, of course.)

Mix-up of characters? Shanmughi has different husbands at different times. She creates a fictional one out of compulsion to escape from Vishwanathan Iyer’s crush (Ungalukku oru Chellamaa illaiya, adhu madhiri ennaku oru Chellappaa irukkaar). That is followed by a spoof of a yesteryear tragic song symbolizing ‘love-failure’ (with black an white transition in video), from an old Gemini Ganesan starrer, Kalyana Parisu. [The song soulfully rendered by A.M.Raaja is “Kaadhalile tholviyutraan“ — there is a female version too.] The once poignant nostalgic lines, “kaadhalilE tholvi yutraan kaaLai oruvan kadantha pinnE amaithi engu peruvaan”, used in a much similar context, offers a comical moment here.

Shanmughi’s husband is cyclic with instinctive lies from Pandian / Shanmughi: For Mudhaliyar (the landlord, played by Manivannan), it’s Sethuraman Iyer (Delhi Ganesh). In a well-conceived funny moment (reminiscent to Ganesh-Kamal-Lakshmi in MMKR), here we see Ganesh-Manivannan-Kamal:

Pandian: Shanmughi oda purushaen Sethuraman Iyer thirumba vandhutaaru...
Mudhaliyar: Ayyo nee anniku Vishwanathan iyer-nu thaane sonna…
Pandian: Oh adhayum sollitaenaa! Rendu pEr..
Mudhaliyar: Two purushanaa?
Pandian: Rendu pEr, Sethurama-Viswanatha Iyer-nu neelama vechutanga…
Mudhaliyar: Adha suruki, Sethuraman…neenga nambula parunga..irunga…(to Sethuraman iyer) Vishwanathan Iyer, Sethuraman Iyer..rendu perayum* ennaku theriyum illa?

* ‘pErayum‘ is cleverly used as a pun here, as this would mean a ‘name’ of person or as the person. In MMKR, Kamal and Delhi both use ‘adhu’, one referring the Bangalore trip, the other about intimate romance — not to forget the hilarious ‘Nadodi Mannan‘ reference.

Sethuraman Iyer: Unakku theriyaadadha Pandia..kalyanathuku appuram pirichu vechadhu thappu thaan. Adhulla enakku udanpaadu kedaiyadhu…
Pandian: Podhum podhum…kelvi ketta mattum thaan badhil sollanum…(to Mudhaliyar) Podhuma mudalyar?
[Deva uses the Mudhal Mariyaadhai ‘kuyil’ sound for Manivannan in a hilarious fashion.]

For Sethuraman Iyer, it’s Mudhaliyar, who says, “Chellappaa Iyer thaane sonna?”, for which Pandian cooks up “Chellappaa Iyer thaan manam udanju, Mudhaliyar-a convert aytaaru“.

Then in jewellery shop, the drunkard Joseph (Nagesh) becomes Chellappa Iyer / Mudhaliyar, Shanmughi’s fictional husband to Gemini. The cycle ends with Pandian being Shanmughi’s another interest. Rip-roaring word-play to guide throughout…

Or simple gestural humour…

Or the improvisation when Shanmughi improvises a Tabu song “Ruk ruk ruk” (from Vijaypath), to Carnatic fusion, serving the purpose of the occasion, as well as lightening up his kid. Incidentally, Tabu plays Janaki in the remake, Chachi 420.

Like the famous Apoorva Sagodharargal complicated mechanism, here we have a setup to fool Mudhaliyar and Heera with a pedestal fan, pulley, hook and a mug, to simulate Shanmughi bathing inside the bathroom.

The other characters: Heera’s character, an assistant to Pandian, and in a formulaic way, has a crush on him. However, she isn’t distasteful so to speak of. I guess she is the Madras progressive lady here as against the traditional “iyer aathu ponnu” in Meena, one has to look at her short exchange with Mudhaliyar (”Yov, ‘na?“, LOL). Shanmughi also asks her in his first meet in disguise,

Sholay anybody? There is another shorter character (Kamal’s films often has memorable ones) in studio-worker Subburaj:

Pandian: Enna Subburaj-u, pillayar enga podhu?
Subburaj:Idhu ‘pullayar’* illa, ‘ganpathi’, Ezhaam number floor-la Indi padam sooting…
*(Madras variant of ‘pillayar’)
Pandian: Yaarudhu?
Subburaj: Adhu inna* pEru adhu? Maruti biscuit-a illa discuit-a, avangathaan…
*(not ‘enna’, this is Madras improvisation)
Pandian: Yov! Madhuri Dixit-ya, Maruti, Ambassador-nu..

Then there is a very funny physical fight in the market with Kanal Kannan.

And yeah…

While Kamal also shows the Tamil film industry, where the hero (Ramesh Arvind in a short cameo) romances with the heroine, while the dance masters simulate a step (much like the weak-hero spoof in PKS). Or, the touch-up to an artist by the make-up man. Kamal teaching the heroine to exaggerate her bosoms in a song. A satirical take on Tamil film’s dance-song routine…

Or the play of words (verbose)…

“Illai-nu sonna, naan sonnadhu nijam ayidum, nee sonnadhu poi ayidumE” — from Shanmughi to Janaki.
“Vishwanathan ponna kalyana pannadhunaala, yEn ponnu vishwanathan iyer pEthi aydichu, Vishwanathan pEthi, adhoda amma idhu”- - from Pandian to dance master.
“Avaru vandhu “joot” solvaru, apram thaan adikanum enna? Pechu vartha nadakum bodhu, vanmurai koodadhu…” — Sethuraman Iyer to the mob.

Finally the chase? The film ends with a ‘chase’, like other Kamal comedies. The husband (in disguise) chases the wife. It’s either a symbolic motif to represent the ‘chasing each other’ in a cultural / metaphorical sense, or just a recurrent tribute to The Circus. I would like to believe there is an implication here, from what we know of the filmmaker.

While we await Kamal-KSR’s Dasavatharam, here’s a film from their combo to liven up.

by Krish

Cast: Kamal Haasan as Madan, Rajnikanth as Rajni, ‘Cheapriya’, ‘Coconut’ Srinivasan and ‘Major-Blunder-Rajan’
Director: S.P. Muthuraman

This is a write-up on a not much reviewed multi-starrer. Aadu Puli Aattam is not the first movie that comes up in our mind, when we think of Kamal-Rajni starrers of late 70s. This is the aspect which made me sit and watch the movie (besides being a Kamal starrer) on Vijay TV, a week back. I don’t think the movie was commercially successful or critically acclaimed. It might have been an also-ran movie, as there were no big names involved, apart from the two superstars.

The director S.P. Muthuraman wasn’t really popular at that time. Nevertheless, it is not an avoidable one. I would say that APA is more watchable than Ninaithale Inikkum or Alauddinum Arpudha Vilakkum. The first 20 minutes are pretty interesting but the story takes some bizarre turns later and falters. Some parts of the movie are engaging.

Unlike the other films these two acted together, this one is neither a family drama nor a romantic movie. The story seems like it is tailor-made for MGR & Nambiar as there are quite a few stunts scenes, two-timing and some punch dialogues too.

Aadu Puli Aattam (translated in English, ‘The Goat and Tiger Game’) refers to an old chess-like board game played in Tamil Nadu using pebbles. The movie starts with Kamal and Rajini, close associates, playing this game in a bar. When the game is finished, the couple, along with their gang ransack the bar and loot the money.

In brief, this is the story of a young man who dreams of becoming a policeman, but decides to go against the police due to circumstances and heads a gang of thieves. When he comes to know that his associates are much worser than thieves, he joins the police and nabs the criminals.

There are some notable scenes. A prisoner called ‘Bhai’ who is to be hung soon has a blind son. After Bhai is executed, Kamal who does not want the kid to know the truth & tries to act as Bhai by mimicking his voice. Though not a great scene, it must have been new to Tamil cinema during those days. More recently, a Prabhudeva-Karthik movie was entirely based on this concept. Later Kamal tricking one of Rajni’s associates by ‘capturing’ Major turns out to be a nice scene. I especially liked Kamal’s expression when he comes back to Major and unties him.

The bike-car chase between Kamal and Major is also well-shot. Just note the scene when he is shot in his leg. The way he limps is just too natural. No other actor bothers to display the pain and feelings as much as this man. The Sardarji make-up and North Indian accent is a good attempt too. Similarly the climax stunt scene is a well made one featuring Kamal and Rajni in a long drawn fight on a roof top. It is a well picturised stunt scene with very few camera tricks, thanks to Kamal’s agility. He is extremely quick, energetic and dedicated. I could not spot a single shot in which he uses a double (’dupe’). But the same can not be said about Rajnikanth. This whole fight sequence was shot with Rajnikanth’s double and Kamal Haasan. Yes, even in close-up shots you can see Rajni’s double trying hard to cover his face with his palms.

In the second half of the movie, Kamal gets an opportunity to work for the Crime Branch. Kamal, as usual is at ease in these roles. In the investigation scenes I felt, he could have avoided starting all sentences with a ‘Well…’. [In fact all wannabe-Kamals appearing in mimicry shows, never fail to copy this.] From here on, Kamal’s role becomes more James Bond-like working for the police, two-timing Rajni’s associates and finding his hide-outs. In the end, Kamal pushes Rajni from the top of a building, Rajini falls on a bush and loses his eyesight. As expected, the villian mouths the most common dialogue used in a climax…”Naan thirundhitten” (I have turned a new leaf).

The movie has a good number of cliched scenes. The director follows the age-old practice of placing an odd-looking wig on the hero’s head in the flashback (to show him as an ‘innocent’ man!). The flashback scenes are pretty much avoidable (especially Kamal dreaming of his ex-lover, who chases a train in ’slow-motion’ is funny). Thankfully there are only two songs and there isn’t much romance. I guess the Bhai and his son were straight out of some drama troupe as their acting reminded me of early-80s Doordarshan plays (’naadagams‘).

Major Sunderrajan is asked to wear the khaki uniform yet another time. I can imagine the outrageous response he would have received from the audience when he mouthed his famous two-liner, “Naan kandippa seyyaren. I will certainly do it!”…;-) There are some good one-liners for Rajinikanth. Especially “Idhu Rajni style” is stylish, indeed. But the way he says ‘dost’ everytime he meets Kamal is funny. It sounds more like Sivaji Ganesan’s ‘Thambeeeee‘, ‘Ammaaaaa‘…:-). Thengai Sreenivasan gets introduced in a grand manner, as a pipe-smoking Brahmin CID with a double barrel gun. But his role is disappointing. This movie doesn’t have any comedy track, either.

Kamal Haasan is the heart of Aadu Puli Aattam. The entire story is about him — his early life, his lover, shattered dreams, gang of thugs, enlightenment and revenge. For most part of the film, he appears in the hippie-style, which was hugely popular in the late 70s. He looks dashing in the intro scene where he rides a bullet. This role is a cakewalk for this extremely skilled actor and he doesn’t get a chance to showcase his abundant talents in APA.

The scene in which he goes to Rajni’s den and gets a cold welcome is good. Rajni throws a garland on Kamal and calls him an ‘Aadu‘. In turn, Kamal turns back and throws the same garland on air which falls right on Rajni’s neck, and says, “Idhu nanbanukku poatta malai illa“, implying that he is the tiger and Rajini, the goat. Like this there are few promising sequences, but overall, the movie is just average. Music is disappointing (neither MSV not Illayaraja) but photography was pretty good, especially in the opening scene. By the way, this is a black & white movie.

When I watched it, I could relate it to several other films which came later. Kamal’s own Khaki Chattai, a much bigger success and a better entertainer, can be called a remake of APA. More recently, Kireedom and Pokkiri have some scenes resembling this movie.

Editor’s Note:
Krish does a good job of letting us know about a not-so-familiar movie. We have more of ‘A’ since ‘B’ is pretty much done. Next week, we move onto ‘C’. Very few movies, but a couple of popular ones. Send in your entries!