Shivaji: How many hurdles?

There is a song in the movie Padayappa. That song literally means : There are a thousand hurdles in life, but for you, these hurdles are only a step. That fits well in the real life of the movie's hero Rajinikant as well.

At the one hand his 'Shivaji the boss' is creating much expexctations from all quarters. At the other hand, the perk and rumenaration that Rajni got has created a lot of buzzword. In Indian moviedom, there is hardly any actor at this moment to match his popularity and stature. Be as it may, rajinikant still faces some hurdles and as is shown in his many a films, he conquers them all. This time he has an uphill task ahead in his real life and every eye is on him now.Shivaji is directed by Shankar who gave us many hits like Kadhalan, Gentleman, Mudhalvan, Jeans and Indian. He is a stylish director but any director working with Rajini must bear one of the most daunting task and that task is to fulfill the public's expectations. And this task is compounded this time from the very first day of announcement of the 'Shivaji-the boss.' The difficulties faced by Rajinikant that I mentioned above starts from this severity. Rajini is not only the flagh bearer of Tamil film industry, he is an icon for millions of his rasigans. He might have enjoyed their fierce loyalty and unconditional love for over two decades, he also has to respond to their anticipations. That he does so time and again must be credited to his uncanny down-to-earthness.If he by chance misses the bus, a debacle is sure to follow as was proved at the time of Baba.To add to the woes of the Superstar, some external elements chip in, which make the outcome of a Rajni movie more thrilling than the movie itself. This time also, as the talk was on of Shivaji being a launch vehicle for the Rajini to his political career, there were many who contributed to the saga of Shivaji. First one was the Tamilnadu government itself which, fearing an onrush of the crowd and thereby encashment of the popularity by distributors, assumed all rights for the control of theatre ticket rates in Tamilnadu. As if it was not enough, VIjay T. Rajinder, an influencing personality in the Kollywood, cautioned against the hike of the ticket rates and declared that he will not sit quietly if the rates are increased.Then surfaced Rajinis' old nemesis, Pattali Makkal Katchi which raised its head again to oppose the Shivaji. It particularly targeted a song 'oru koodai sunlight, oru koodai moonlight,' on the pretext of using English words and sentences in the song. The party workers (or leaders?) even have shown readiness for an agitation for this cause. Pattali Makkal Katchi people have a history of opposing to Rajini, first time showing their trait at the time of release of Baba. But this time, Shivaji has faced resistance from one more quarter, and that is an unexpected one. A certain trade union in Thanjavoor has opposed some references to the Kaveri river in a song in Shivaji and they too seem ready for an agitation. What is funny in all this episode is the statement given by this union, in which it is said that Rajini has kept mum many times on Kaveri water dispute. That's why, according to this union, he has no right to use Kaveri's name in any song in his movie.As Shivaji-the boss has rewritten some records in the movie history of India, it has also has to face an unprecedented hurdle now. The Kannada Rakshan Vedike, an organisation specialing in isolating the Kannada peolple from neighbouring states, has decided to oppose the release of Shivaji-the boss in Karnataka. It is unusual development. Usually, even when non Kannada movies were banned or withheld from Karnataka (pls see some of my previous posts), Rajini films have been given the go. But this time now, the case is different. WIth the Kaveri tribunal award going in favour of Tamilnadu, Kannada Rakshan Vedike is full swing and to show its opposition to Tamilnadu, it has decided to play with Shivaji's prospects.

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Pokkiri : Vijay has one more success

If one prefers only to look at entertaining value of a film, Pokkiri stands quite a good chance. In Mumabaiyya parlance, it is a paisa vasool film. Coming from the ‘Ilaiy Dalpathi’ Vijay, it has all the elements that make Tamil films dear to every film buff. One expected a thrilling, action and romance saga for Vijay, who had been on a search out for a hit for a year or so. The initial response and thereafter also has shown that his search is over now and there is talk now of his being the next superstar of Kollywood. Undoubtedly, Pokkirri makes all Vijay fans happy with its stylish treatment, eye-catching stunts, an out of the blue story and witty dialogues. There are many plus points in the Pokkiri. The most prominent being that it does not hide violence. It does not either hide its intention of being a violent story. It takes us through the dark and sullen underworld where killing is the thumb rule.
This is a remake film and it shows all through the film. But adding some true blue Vijay elements like stunts and comedy, Prabhu Deva has done it refreshingly new. Why he has kept some ‘overt’ features in the movie is an open question. The opening scene of Vijay dreaming of being a batsman and the lady in the villain gang fascinating herself with Vijay was such scenes. Thank god, the number of such scenes are limited.
Vijay shines in the movie from the word go. He was the same, dancing, acting and fighting the way he does. We are entertained like we do always. Still there was something missing this time in Pokkiri. As the one who relished and relish even today the Ghilli in 2004, this film is stops short somewhere near the expectations. While in Ghilli, Vijay carried the film on his shoulders, in Pokkiri, the film sways somewhere between the action and romance genres. I watched this film expecting it to be a action thriller. Thriller it is, but not the usual action thriller. The thrilling scenes come in as a concession the director has agreed to give to viewer so as not to make the film a run of the mill kind.
Prabhu Deva has tried very much to make Pokkiri as spicy as possible. But he has failed to keep a balance between the romance of lead pair and magnetic fight scenes of Vijay, the lead protagonist. One more flaw is in storyline itself that the sudden twist in the tale comes very late. A basic opportunity to dwell on this twist and make use of it, to stuff it in the confrontation scenes between main protagonist and villain is lost in the process. To say the least, there are not a single confrontation between Vijay and Prakash Raj after the latter learns Vijay’s true identity diminishes the entertainment value of the film. Even the protective element of Vijay for Asin is used only as a vehicle to make the film running. No use of this angle is done from the angle of Prakash Raj.
While watching Pokkiri, one is always reminded of Ghilli. Even some indications to that effect are provided in the film here and there. As if Sivakasi and Thirupachi never happened. Even some actors in that film appear here in different roles. That’s why a kind of anticipation was built as if this was the second part of Ghilli. But whereas in Ghilli, Trisha was shown harassed, hounded and sought by villain, in this film, the hero covertly does all this. In Ghilli, the story had ingrained human angles making it dear to all and sundry. In Pokkiri, when the main hero himself is ruffian, the human emotion are bound to take a back seat. As a effect, his tantrums also fell off. In the ruthless criminal world it it only bullet and guns that do all the talking. To compensate this loss, a separate comedy track is imbibed in the form of Vadivelu and he does it with a large effect. This part of the films gets 100 per cent marks. Especially are the comic scenes where Vadivelu tries to urinate in front of a wall and one where he opens the water tanker mistakingly.
Heroine Asin looks good throughout the film. She looks the perfect match to hero Vijay and glamour girl for the audience. But this romantic angle overshadows many times other happenings in the film. She acts like she has no clue of what’s going on screen in her absence. This comes out so starkly when the Inspector comes and harasses her mother, or when he sends goons to her house. Even when she knows that Vijay appreciates her and is ready to do anything for her, she not once tells Vijay about all this. This is a very weak character in the film and its only justification seems to be filling the need of glamour in the story.
Pokkiri seems to be one of the biggest successful films in Kollywood. It might come second only to Shivaji-the Boss starring Rajinikant, which will be released in April. Till then, it will bask in the glory. That is the thing I fear most. Since Vijay has tasted success with two of the remade Mohan Babu flicks, he might go for a third one. That will be really sad for the Tamil audience. Because he has the capability to deliever original hits which he have proved in the past. So let us hope that his ‘Alagiya Tamil Magan’ will be an original and as engrossing film as we are accustomed to. That will be the real success for Tamil filmdom’s next superstar

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Tamil Films facing closed doors in South

It was not long ago that Kannada film industry, apparently raged over the diminishing collections on account of copetition with Tamil films, demanded to the State government to restrict release of non-Kannada films in Karnataka for the six weeks. The state government subsequently conceded on account of which non-Kannada films were barred entry for the first six weeks of their release in Karnataka. That decision affected all other languages films as well. On account of that step alone, Karnataka witnessed a high number of remakes in Kannada from Tamil and Hindi films. It did not though brought any worthwhile trend of original stories or new concepts in Kannada movies. Some trade bodies even went to the Supreme Court against this order in 2004 and now recently state government has denied having issued any such order.
These trade bodies feared that neighbouring States like Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala will be provoked to take similar decision against release and exhibition of Kannada and other language films in their respective states. Though these apprehension were not realised owing to the little popularity of Kannada films in other regions, it has came into existance for Tamil films. The same situation aroused in Andhra pradesh some time ago. Some Chiranjeevi films having failed to garner collections to the level they once did, at the same time Rajinikant's Chandramukhi dubbed in Telugu making records in collections and Santkozhi, Thimiru, Aanai etc. films making waves on box-office gave sleepless nights to the industrywllahs. Faced with a lacklustre performance of a majority of Telugu films and Tamil dubbed films making hay one after another, the film producers association there demanded a ban on Tamil films dubbed in Telugu. But this demand, arose as did subsequently vanished without a whimper and no concrete decision in this matter has not been taken till now.
After the Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, it is the turn of the Kerala now to try to halt Tamil films at its border.
Tamil films, actor, actresses and songs have a huge fan following in Kerala. Anyone watching Asianet or Surya TV can vouch for that. Even Malyalam actresses have a harvest time now in Kollywood. Asin, Nayanthara are two heroines who can prove this point. Sometimes Tamil songs have more buzz than the Malayalam songs in Kerala. Old horses like Rajinikant and Kamal Haasan command a big fanbase with young guns Vijay, Surya and Vikram following the suit. So much so, that though Prithviraj is a face to reckon with in Tamilnadu, he is a big craze in Kerala girls. A distributor in Palghat has the bought rights for Shivaji-the boss for a whooping amount of Rs. 35 Crores, which is considered a record in Kerala.
It is hardly surprising then that Mollywood's insiders are alarmed at the pace at which Tamil films are gaining ground. To contemplate on this situation, some financiers in Mollywood recently had a meeting. It was decided in this meeting that Tamil films should be released in Kerala few weeks after their release in Tamilnadu. Even so, this restriction is less likely to affect the films starring Rajini, Kamal, Vijay etc. These films will be released simultaneously in Kerala.

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