Vijay‘s films have not been doing well since Pokkiri,Villu.
Nor had Murugadoss’s from Ghajini.
Vijay in Thuppaki.
The recent Deepavali release ‘Thuppaki’ has brought cheers both to Vijay and Murugadoss.
I doubt whether any Indian Film has done as much work as Murugadoss in this Film on ‘Sleeper Cells’
The concept of ‘Sleeper Cells’ have been well-explained and the use of ordinary people being used as ‘Sleepers ‘ have been brought out excellently.
The planning of the Terrorist and the measures taken by Vijay to counter the Terrorist’s plan are intelligent.
For a change in Tamil Films, the Hero his grey cells, instead of mere brawn.
The screen play is tight, excepting the first half where the narration is slow and there are as many as three song sequences in rapid succession.
But for the last ten minutes , the first half drags on.
However the second part is packed with action and intelligence.
The film is logical as far as films go.
Murugadoss pays attention to details to such an extent that you find a plaster in Vijay’s hand in the last few frames where he fractured himself in a fight, this is a rarity in Tamil Films.
Dialogues are natural.
The songs are in the films seem to be forced and do not seem to jell with the flow(come to think of , which songs in recent Films fit with the flow!)
As to Music Harris Jeya Raj churns out his stock.
The clever use of the crowd whistling and cheering in Vijay’s introduction scene is so good that I was turning around in my seat to see how many in the audience were whistling!
I often say that there are two types of back ground scores in Tamil’Indian Films.(there are exceptions)
One is where you take some time to identify the original score.
The other one is blatant to an extent that at the instance of a few bars, you can fix the source.
Harris Jeyaraj unabashedly lifts the back ground score of ‘Bourne Ultimatum!’
Locales, Editing are good without being intrusive,
This is probably a film of Vijay where the Love part is so meager and so detached you practically feel nothing despite the efforts of the girl to expose herself.
Viay has done an excellent job as an Army Man.
Dance, the forte of Vijay, is as expected of him.
Do I detect a stiffness in his limbs while dancing?
His sardonic expression while fighting the Sleepers in an effort to rescue the girls is refreshing.
Where is the famous Vijay’s mischievous Twinkle in his eyes?
A film that does not disappoint Vijay’s fans and Murugadoss buffs.
This started from form Mehmood‘s’ Padosan‘ portrayal of a South India.
For the North Indians, it looks, any one South of Nagpur is a’ Madrasi’
Seem to be blissfully unaware that there are four States, Karnataka,Andhra and Kerala which, while sharing a common bond with Tamil nadu, have distinct and varied Culture, or is this attitude deliberate?
This makes one eye the North Indians with suspicions from the South.
Often it is noticed, be it Film Fare awards or Top Political Forums, one gets the impression that the South is tolerated and addressed condescendingly.
True, South Indian Films . especially the tamil Films, portray the north Indians as ‘Nimabalki, Nambalki tamil’ though I know many North Indians who know Tamil literature better than South Indians and Tamils in particular.
While the barb by the South sounds immature and fails to evoke laughter, the North’s depiction is insulting
Times of India has produced a good article on this.
Mehmood ridiculing South Indians, Padosan.
Excerpt.
“He flashes a gaudy lungi, while she drips melodrama, all the while emitting suggestive sounds that starts with a throaty ‘aiyyayo’ and ends in a guttural ‘um’. Makers of upcoming Hindi movie ‘Aiyyaa’ insist that the song ‘Dream-um Wake up-um’ is a tribute to south Indian cinema, and is just a quirky piece in the wacky north-south love story. We have to wait till October 12 to verify that. But internet is already awash with accusations that the song is yet another instance of stereotyping of south Indians, one more ‘aiyyo-amma’ Madrasi cliche from ‘insensitive’ northies.
To add to the confusion, right before the song starts, Rani Mukherjee’s Marathi mulgi says she prefers darkskinned people to fairskinned ones. If Malayalam star Prithviraj Sukumaran is indeed the tall, dark, handsome hero of the movie, then it will be a departure from the idli-loving, sambar-slurping, conservative Madrasis that Bollywood churns out for laughs. What started with the antics of Mehmood’s oily Masterji in ‘Padosan’ (1968), continue, whether it is Omi Vaidya’s sly Chatur Ramalingam in ‘3 Idiots’ or Shah Rukh Khan‘s timid Shekhar Subramanium who gleefully mixes noodles with curd in ‘Ra.One’.
“Any south Indian will find Mehmood’s characterisation insulting,” says Mohan Raman, film historian and actor. He took care that his Seshadri manager in Ranbir Kapoor-movie ‘Ajab Prem Ki Gasab Kahani’ didn’t become ridiculous but hinted at his outsider status…
It is the ‘north-Indian’ gaze that causes the problem, says actor Satish Shah, whose Iyer father in ‘Ra.One’ was quite similar to a stand-up he did for the 1980s sitcom ‘Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi‘. “People of all four states are still Madrasis to many. Probably, Mehmood’s popular character must have set the wrong example,” says Shah. And, yes, he wouldn’t have played the Iyer if not for his equation with Shah Rukh Khan. “I was uncomfortable. As I don’t know the languages, I repeated whatever small words they asked me to say,” he says.
What is an occupational hazard to veteran artists like Shah, are created by those who have nothing new to say, says director Dibakar Banerjee. He created a smart IAS officer, T A Krishnan, in ‘Shanghai’ (2012) after referring books and talking to civil servants. Banerjee topped it with extensive language coaching for actor Abhay Deol to ensure that he never went anywhere near a ‘Tamilian‘ act. “If filmmakers derive material from other films they have seen, then they will end up using stock stereotypes,” he says.
That said, every stereotype has a kernel of truth and ‘Padosan’ is a comedy that used characters from that time effectively. “In Matunga, you could find a conservative music teacher like Mehmood’s Masterji in the 60s,” he says. The same goes for Kishore Kumar’s music composer or Sunil Dutt’s village yokel and the outrageous Quick Gun Murugan character and its Tamil western created for trendy Channel V in the late 90s.
At the core of all stereotypes is a way of defining the other. “In the pre-information society, where communities lived in relative isolation, the other is seen as a threat or considered funny because you don’t understand their customs and language,” says Banerjee. So the ‘idli-dosa’ eating Tamilian is a creation of Hindi-speaking people just like the ‘oye oye’ Sardarji of south Indians. Tamil movies have stock Hindi-speaking characters who are mostly aggressive moneylender marwaris. “Those characters have now come down as they are not relevant,” says Mohan Raman. In fact, one of the first mainstream Hindi movies to break the Madrasi stereotype was K Balachander’s ‘Ek Duje Ke Liye‘ (1981). “Kamal Haasan sir nailed it when he says ‘Hinthi’ and not Hindi. It is very realistic,” says Kartik Krishnan, assistant director and writer in Bollywood, a Tamilian from Delhi.
The exceptions that film-lovers like Krishnan cheer on include ‘Dil Se’ (1998), ‘Company’ (2002), ‘Mr and Mrs Iyer’ (2002), ‘Yuva’ (2004) and ‘Shanghai’ (2012). “When I first heard Mohanlal talk with a Mallu accent in ‘Company’, I cringed. But despite the slightly irritating delivery, his performance grew on me,” he says. Barring a few, most of the realistic portrayals have come in movies directed by south Indians, be it Mani Ratnam or Ram Gopal Varma. But you don’t necessarily need south Indians to put an end to such ethnic stereotypes. Sachin Kundalkar, who is debuting in Bollywood with ‘Aiyyaa’ says south Indian men are hot. “I am a pucca Maharashtrian. I have seen women around me admiringly looking at south Indian men for their humbleness and intellectual aura. That is what my film is about,” he say”
In an interview the Legend Lata Mangeshkar said that the King Of Melodies Mohammed Rafi refused to sing with here and later apologised.
Normally reclusive Rafi’s family dubbed it as non sense , so also Rafi’s Confidante.
Though I am a Fan of Lata Mangeshkar, it is sad that her arrogance as a Singer has come out Public for the first time.
It is no secret that Lata Mangeshkar was arrogant and insulting in her professional Life, contrary to the Public image she built around her.
We know what she did to Vani Jairam behind the scenes.
But she met her match, least of all ,in her sister, Asha Bhonsle.
Very unseemly on the part of Lata to insult a Great Singer like Rafi.
In an interview to Mumbai Mirror, Lataji says she and Rafisaab fought over royalties
‘My father was national property. I am hurt and so are his fans. His fan following is much bigger than any other artist. If she can prove that my father had written an apology letter to her, then I am ready to apologise. But the main thing is that she should come forward and produce that letter. All I want is that the truth should come out,” Shahid Rafi told reporters here at the press conference.
Shahid Rafi said that Lata Mangeshkar made these claims because she is insecure. “I think this is a publicity stunt as she is insecure with the huge fan following my father has, even after his death,” he said.
Shahid Rafi said that before calling the press conference, he did not feel the need to call Lata Mangeshkar because she seemed always “busy”, when he had called her up in the past.
In an interview to Mumbai Mirror yesterday, Lataji said she and Rafisaab fought over royalties and that when he proclaimed he would not sing with her at a meeting attended by other singers, she retaliated by saying that it was she who would not sing with him.
Lataji went on to say that peace was brokered by the composer Jaikishen, who got Rafisaab to write her a letter of apology. “I got the letter and ended the cold war. But whenever I’d see him, the hurt would return,” Lataji told Mumbai Mirror….
Mamu is Aamiruddin Ahmed Bari, Rafi’s then personal secretary, and a person with anincredible memory for a 74-year-old. He regales you with stories of back then, and also recalls the incident that led to a spat between Rafi and Lata. “Yeh baat 1961 ki hai. It was the Famous Studios in Mahalaxmi. After a recording, this meeting happened. There was Geeta Dutt, Manna Dey, a singer called Balbir, Talat Mehmood, and Mubarak Begum. Baat royalty ki ho rahi thi, and then Rafi saab said, ‘I don’t want any royalty.’ He also explained why.
I remember one line clearly, because it affected the way I think, ‘hamein apne mehnat ke paise mil jaate hain, fees ke taur pe’ said Rafi. It would be wrong to demand royalty from the producers according to Rafi saab, because he felt that that will put a lot of financial strain on those whose films fail at the box office. Iss par Talat saab naraaz ho gaye, aur kehne lage, ‘aapka kya hai Rafi saab, Hyderabad mein distribution business toh tagdi chal rahi hai aapki.’ So Rafi got angry, and retorted that agar baat royalty ki ho rahi hai toh hamare business pe kyun nigaah daal rahe ho?’ and he stormed out. I walked with him, and said aap rehne dijiye, I will take care of it, because I knew Rafi was very soft, and wouldn’t say anything else. I was his aide, secretary, business manager and closest person. I was his sister’s husband also, and used to live with them only.
This incident put a rift between Rafi and Lata, and they didn’t sing together for three years. Those duet projects that were left, were done alag-alag. Dummy portions were sung by Mahendra Kapoor for the duets, and then later, replaced with Rafi’s while mixing, after Lata had sung her bits. And then, Lata began to get lesser and lesser assignments. I remember someone had told me from 230 odd songs in a year, she began to get about 140. Also, Suman Kalyanpur was coming up in a big way, and she’d sing for half of Lata’s price – for as less as `5,000. That was when Jaikishan intervened. Ek din, recording ke baad, unhone Rafi saab ke kandhe pe haath rakha aur kaha, ‘tum dono achche singers ho, aur yeh jo ho raha hai, theek nahi hai.’ Rafi said, ‘Humne kuch galat kaha ho toh aap humko bolo’.
If ever there was ever a Superstar who hit the Indian Screen like lightening it was Rajesh Khanna.
After the reign of the Triumvirate of Dilip Kumar,Rajkapoor and Dev Anand, it was Rajesh Khanna who breezed in with his impish Dev like smile, a nonchalant near swagger, twinkling eyes and a dialogue delivery that was an amalgamation of Dilipkumar and Dev Anand.
He was a phenomenon in the true sense of the term for his film ‘Aradhana‘ ran for over 25 weeks in Chennai at the prestigious Anand theatre.
Though many a Tamilian did not understand a word of Hindi , he had a huge fan following.
His films Kati Patang,Anand,Bawarchi ran to unparalleled acclaim and Houseful shows in Tamil Nadu which then professed anti Hindi sentiments.
Time is always swift and merciless.
It makes a man take some decisions which he would never have taken and it robs him even of remorse.
Be that it may, he had, at last ,his children by his side.
Man, in his youth takes inordinate pride in his youth and mastery over worldly affairs, but Time proves that it is the Master of All’
Babu Moshoi, Fare well.
Related:
Bollywood’s first superstar Rajesh Khanna breathed his last on July 18 at his residence in Mumbai. He was 69 and is survived by his estranged wife Dimple Kapadia and two daughters Twinkle and Rinke. Film actor Akshay Kumar was his son-in-law. His last rites will be performed on Thursday.
The veteran actor was admitted to Mumbai’s Lilavati hospital last week following reports of low blood pressure, but was discharged on Tuesday and was at his Mumbai residence since then.
Earlier on June 24, he was admitted to a hospital following kidney problems.
The actor is hailed as India’s first superstar after 15 consecutive solo superhits between 1969 and 1972, a record that remains unbroken.
The Bollywood industry expressed grief at the death of the first superstar of Bollywood. “It is a terrible day for the industry and all of us,” actress Saira Banu said.
Rajesh Khannapronunciation (help·info); (born Jatin Khanna) (29 December 1942 – 18 July 2012[1]) was an Indian actor in Hindi films, and was also a film producer and a politician.
He appeared in 163 feature films of which 128 films saw him as the lead protagonist; he appeared in 17 short films as well.[2][3][4] He won threeFilmfare Best Actor Awards and was nominated for the same fourteen times. He received the maximum BFJA Awards for Best Actor (Hindi) – four times[5] and nominated 25 times. In 1991, he was awarded the Filmfare Special Award for completing 25 years in the industry, appearing in a record 106 films as the single lead protagonist in a span of 25 years. In 2005, he was awarded the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award. Khanna was referred to as the “First Superstar” of Hindi cinema.[6][7][8][9][10] He made his debut in 1966 with Aakhri Khat and rose to prominence with his performances in films like Raaz, Baharon Ke Sapne, Ittefaq and Aradhana
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