Kamal Haasan and his Paycheque
The last time I wrote anything related to Indian movies was back in September of 2005. That is proof enough that for the given time period till writing this, Indian movies are, in general, crap and continue to be crap. I am yet to see Lage Raho Munnabhai which I have been promised is brilliant so I cannot comment on all movies.
Anyway, I saw Kamal's latest Vettaiyadu Villayadu. Mostly a pedestrian movie. Even the macho moments aren't really macho or even cool. Kamal is pathetic at playing a stylish police officer in plainly obvious commerical film. This was plainly obvious in Aalavandaan and it is the same over here. When he says "...chinna pasangala..." during one of the latter scenes to a villain I was sitting there thinking what a boon it would be to have Rajini here. Kamal should stick to what he does best: serious efforts which question humanity, religion, love and loss. Hey Ram or Kurudhipunal or Virumaandi or Guna or Mahanadhi are brilliant examples of this sort of Kamal.
I have noticed a few people on the net claiming Kamal's performance to be subdued, evocative and subtle. Wrong. It is disinterested and random. Like Coke (the drink!) which is hot and flat. It is still Coke but it lacks the fizz. Jyothika labours in a most stupid performance. What a waste of talent overall. The guy who acts as "Anderson" was also pathetic.
Gautham Menon seems to have been heavily influenced by American police procedurals. Influenced, yes. Inspired, no. This film just shouts out "wannabe" from the word go and with dialogue like "Back home we call it Raghavan instinct" it is most definitely more comical than Gautham Menon intended. Made me cringe. I don't quite know what made Kamal sign this film. If I was to take a wild guess, it would have to be the money. Along with Vasool Raja MBBS this forms two films that Kamal has blatently turned up on set to be paid. This isn't Kamal the actor working, it is Kamal the businessman.
As for the cinematogrpahy. It isn't brilliant either. I am not quite sure why it is being lauded as much as it is. Probably because every other movie being made in Kollywood is about as good as what most children manage when given a video camera. Anyway it is over the top, childish and lacks vision. I must say the songs look very nice, especially the one shot at night in New York. It captured the essence of the city that never sleeps.
Which brings me to my next point: music. I am not quite sure who did the background score. Could have been Harris Jeyaraj or someone else. Whoever it was, it was absolutely bemoaning. Same with "Anniyan". Well over the top and unneccessary. Most Tamil movies I have seen in the recent past have this problem. It detracts from the story, the acting and the direction. I would say that only two people are able to provide splending background music: Rahman and Illayaraja. Raja is in a league of his own in this regard.
The songs themselves are not that bad, could have been worse.
As you are reading this, you are probably thinking this is a very negative review. Well, the film isn't great or even good. It is mediocre at best and flat out bad at worst. Compared to the sleek and memorable effort Menon provided for us in Kaaka Kakka, this is most definitely a step backwards. You also probably noticed my usage of English wasn't exactly brilliant. That's because I reserve my better English for better things. Over and out: a highly dissapointed Kamal fan.
Anyway, I saw Kamal's latest Vettaiyadu Villayadu. Mostly a pedestrian movie. Even the macho moments aren't really macho or even cool. Kamal is pathetic at playing a stylish police officer in plainly obvious commerical film. This was plainly obvious in Aalavandaan and it is the same over here. When he says "...chinna pasangala..." during one of the latter scenes to a villain I was sitting there thinking what a boon it would be to have Rajini here. Kamal should stick to what he does best: serious efforts which question humanity, religion, love and loss. Hey Ram or Kurudhipunal or Virumaandi or Guna or Mahanadhi are brilliant examples of this sort of Kamal.
I have noticed a few people on the net claiming Kamal's performance to be subdued, evocative and subtle. Wrong. It is disinterested and random. Like Coke (the drink!) which is hot and flat. It is still Coke but it lacks the fizz. Jyothika labours in a most stupid performance. What a waste of talent overall. The guy who acts as "Anderson" was also pathetic.
Gautham Menon seems to have been heavily influenced by American police procedurals. Influenced, yes. Inspired, no. This film just shouts out "wannabe" from the word go and with dialogue like "Back home we call it Raghavan instinct" it is most definitely more comical than Gautham Menon intended. Made me cringe. I don't quite know what made Kamal sign this film. If I was to take a wild guess, it would have to be the money. Along with Vasool Raja MBBS this forms two films that Kamal has blatently turned up on set to be paid. This isn't Kamal the actor working, it is Kamal the businessman.
As for the cinematogrpahy. It isn't brilliant either. I am not quite sure why it is being lauded as much as it is. Probably because every other movie being made in Kollywood is about as good as what most children manage when given a video camera. Anyway it is over the top, childish and lacks vision. I must say the songs look very nice, especially the one shot at night in New York. It captured the essence of the city that never sleeps.
Which brings me to my next point: music. I am not quite sure who did the background score. Could have been Harris Jeyaraj or someone else. Whoever it was, it was absolutely bemoaning. Same with "Anniyan". Well over the top and unneccessary. Most Tamil movies I have seen in the recent past have this problem. It detracts from the story, the acting and the direction. I would say that only two people are able to provide splending background music: Rahman and Illayaraja. Raja is in a league of his own in this regard.
The songs themselves are not that bad, could have been worse.
As you are reading this, you are probably thinking this is a very negative review. Well, the film isn't great or even good. It is mediocre at best and flat out bad at worst. Compared to the sleek and memorable effort Menon provided for us in Kaaka Kakka, this is most definitely a step backwards. You also probably noticed my usage of English wasn't exactly brilliant. That's because I reserve my better English for better things. Over and out: a highly dissapointed Kamal fan.
This entry was posted by Blogpur, on
Sunday, October 01, 2006.
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1:02 PM
While I agree with your observation of Kamal's performance in Vasool Raja MBBS, I differ when it comes to VV. I too agree that Kamal needn't do such movies. But by no means is the movie pedestrian. I don't see how you can be convinced that his performance was subtle though.
On another note, Rahman comes way behind Raja when it comes to background score.
PS: Lage Raho Munnabhai isn't brilliant; its noble intention falls flat in an improper screenplay.
2:51 PM
Hi
Thanks for visiting, I often visit your site too. I shall in future add a link on my blogroll! In any case I stand by what I said about VV, compared to many films of the genre (both in India and outside) I felt it was pedestrian. I also said that Kamal was not subtle, but rather disinterested and I think that was plainly obvious.
I definitely agree with you on Raja. Hey Ram is a mighty fine example of this. It is an absolutely brilliant score, far ahead of its time. The scenes after the Calcutta carnage overlooking the corpses on the park and the vultures in the sky had some terrifyingly good music. The scene in Virumaandi where Kamal sits dejected near the well is another brilliant example of Raja at work. Again in Guna, I could go on and on. I just love his work.
PS: Damn, I thought Lago Raho would be really impressive. Oh well, looks like we will have to wait for the next Kamal directed film to see a masterpiece on the screens.
9:07 PM
I haven't seen the movie. Going by the interview by Ravivarma, I was impressed with the cinematography for sole reason that most of the scenes were shot in natural light and again, I think they have these steadicams for rescue!
When in comes to bgm no body can come near Illayaraja. Heyram is a very recent ones. Next time listen to his bgm in pretty old movies like Aanpavam, sindu bhairavi for example. You will be mesmerised.
Only Raja can show depth of scene by not having any bgm.
5:01 PM
Hi Karthik,
Sorry for the delayed response, I must see those older films. I haven't seen them in a while and you tend to forget things. Especially when your studying quantum field theory and have exams coming up!
Ravi Varma - well he was good, better than most but I think Gautham was aiming for a "hollywood" look to the movie. It didn't happen.