Weekend movies - Udhiri Pookkal and Imsai Arasan 23-aam Pulikesi
Udhiripookkal: This was what I knew about the movie before watching it:
1) If you ask Tamil movie lovers who are in their 30s to come up with the list of best Tamil movies ever, this movie would find a place in the list of 9 out of 10 people.
2) Though I have seen the movie a long time back, it was the parting shot of the movie that I was able to remember, mainly bcos it justified the title of the movie.
3) Vijayan as the hero of the movie.
Now, after watching the movie, I can understand why everyone felt so and in fact, I would have jumped on that bandwagon, if not for some minor shortcomings which let the film down IMO. The movie was awesome. I love Mahendran’s narration style, relaxed and simple. You go get a feeling that the movie is moving at a slow pace, but there is something happening in each and every scene that gradually builds up to the unforgettable climax. The one thing I observed in this movie (and something that I didn’t see in Mullum Malarum) is the way he starts every single scene. He would start the scene by showing just a single character, uttering a dialogue. He wouldn’t be showing who that character is talking to and where the scene is happening. Then, he slowly zooms out and reveals the other person in the scene and the location. That, I thought, was pretty neat.
The movie was going great but right after Vijayan gets married the second time, completely loses track for the next 20 mins or so, only to find its footing again in the scenes leading up to the climax. And that’s where my disappointment stems from. When you are watching an all-time classic that is going great, you keep saying to yourself that so and so scene should not show up in the flow and if that exact thing shows up, imagine how disappointed you would be. That kind of a thing exactly happened while watching this movie. So, the scene is this: Vijayan comes back to the village after his 2nd marriage and everyone is watching him get off the parisal. Right then, his first wife's sister, who was the one he badly wanted to marry, starts singing a song, making fun of him. And just like that, all the good things I had to say about the movie evaporated and I was like Mahendran, please don’t do this. That song and roughly the 15 mins following that had a huge impact on what I had to say the movie as a whole. When you are watching a yesteryear classic like this, you expect everything to be perfect in every sense. So, when something went awry, I just couldn’t take it.
As far as performances go - Vijayan is clearly the scene stealer and expectedly turns in a power packed performance. The star cast is amazing, with even the relatively unknown actors coming up with very convincing performances. The Maestro's background score was as always perfect and among the songs, the classic Azhagiya Kanne is superb. Looks like it was Mahendran who started the age-old tradition of casting Sarath Babu as the highly qualified/ dignified/ soft-spoken/ highly educated person (His role in Mullum malarum too was a similar one), a tradition we have carried on till this date. The last time I can remember him doing a similar role was in Baba. Bottom line - this is very good quality cinema but I would stop just short of calling this movie a classic, which his debut movie Mullum Malarum was. Somehow, of all his movies that I have seen, Mullum Malarum stands tall. The only movie that I want to watch badly is Metti, to see if he had gotten any better after making Mullum Malarum. Mahendran fans who have watched all of his movies can comment on this.
Imsai Arasan 23-aam Pulikesi - Watched this movie, finally a good 4 months after the film was released. I immensely loved the movie, from the outset. Though the jokes as such were no great shakes, the timing of the same made me laugh uncontrollably and at one point, even fell off the chair while doing so :) When I was thinking about why I liked the movie so much, I realized that the main reason was bcos the jokes in the movie were more along the lines of what we, as students, would have come up in our skits during our college days. For example, the akka mala and gupsy references. I am sure every one of us would have seen similar skits during our college days. But at the same time, this can be brought out as a minus point too bcos of the inability of the director to think of any special jokes that we might expect from a professional like him, when compared to amateurs like us. Like in all successful comedy movies, what makes the movie more enjoyable and captivating is the presence of a valid storyline, no matter how much aradha pazhasu it is. Again, Shankar has to be given all the credit for even attempting to do something like this - produce a historical comedy movie with Vadivelu as the hero. The whole cast was funny, with Vadivelu playing his Pulikesi role to perfection. The only place the move dragged a bit is during the romance scenes when Pulikesi is in the prison. Bottom line - If you are expecting a laugh riot like the Kamal - Crazy Mohan movies, you might be disappointed. But if you go in with no such expectations, you will thoroughly enjoy it, like I did. Truly hilarious. Now, time to look forward to Veyil.
1) If you ask Tamil movie lovers who are in their 30s to come up with the list of best Tamil movies ever, this movie would find a place in the list of 9 out of 10 people.
2) Though I have seen the movie a long time back, it was the parting shot of the movie that I was able to remember, mainly bcos it justified the title of the movie.
3) Vijayan as the hero of the movie.
Now, after watching the movie, I can understand why everyone felt so and in fact, I would have jumped on that bandwagon, if not for some minor shortcomings which let the film down IMO. The movie was awesome. I love Mahendran’s narration style, relaxed and simple. You go get a feeling that the movie is moving at a slow pace, but there is something happening in each and every scene that gradually builds up to the unforgettable climax. The one thing I observed in this movie (and something that I didn’t see in Mullum Malarum) is the way he starts every single scene. He would start the scene by showing just a single character, uttering a dialogue. He wouldn’t be showing who that character is talking to and where the scene is happening. Then, he slowly zooms out and reveals the other person in the scene and the location. That, I thought, was pretty neat.
The movie was going great but right after Vijayan gets married the second time, completely loses track for the next 20 mins or so, only to find its footing again in the scenes leading up to the climax. And that’s where my disappointment stems from. When you are watching an all-time classic that is going great, you keep saying to yourself that so and so scene should not show up in the flow and if that exact thing shows up, imagine how disappointed you would be. That kind of a thing exactly happened while watching this movie. So, the scene is this: Vijayan comes back to the village after his 2nd marriage and everyone is watching him get off the parisal. Right then, his first wife's sister, who was the one he badly wanted to marry, starts singing a song, making fun of him. And just like that, all the good things I had to say about the movie evaporated and I was like Mahendran, please don’t do this. That song and roughly the 15 mins following that had a huge impact on what I had to say the movie as a whole. When you are watching a yesteryear classic like this, you expect everything to be perfect in every sense. So, when something went awry, I just couldn’t take it.
As far as performances go - Vijayan is clearly the scene stealer and expectedly turns in a power packed performance. The star cast is amazing, with even the relatively unknown actors coming up with very convincing performances. The Maestro's background score was as always perfect and among the songs, the classic Azhagiya Kanne is superb. Looks like it was Mahendran who started the age-old tradition of casting Sarath Babu as the highly qualified/ dignified/ soft-spoken/ highly educated person (His role in Mullum malarum too was a similar one), a tradition we have carried on till this date. The last time I can remember him doing a similar role was in Baba. Bottom line - this is very good quality cinema but I would stop just short of calling this movie a classic, which his debut movie Mullum Malarum was. Somehow, of all his movies that I have seen, Mullum Malarum stands tall. The only movie that I want to watch badly is Metti, to see if he had gotten any better after making Mullum Malarum. Mahendran fans who have watched all of his movies can comment on this.
Imsai Arasan 23-aam Pulikesi - Watched this movie, finally a good 4 months after the film was released. I immensely loved the movie, from the outset. Though the jokes as such were no great shakes, the timing of the same made me laugh uncontrollably and at one point, even fell off the chair while doing so :) When I was thinking about why I liked the movie so much, I realized that the main reason was bcos the jokes in the movie were more along the lines of what we, as students, would have come up in our skits during our college days. For example, the akka mala and gupsy references. I am sure every one of us would have seen similar skits during our college days. But at the same time, this can be brought out as a minus point too bcos of the inability of the director to think of any special jokes that we might expect from a professional like him, when compared to amateurs like us. Like in all successful comedy movies, what makes the movie more enjoyable and captivating is the presence of a valid storyline, no matter how much aradha pazhasu it is. Again, Shankar has to be given all the credit for even attempting to do something like this - produce a historical comedy movie with Vadivelu as the hero. The whole cast was funny, with Vadivelu playing his Pulikesi role to perfection. The only place the move dragged a bit is during the romance scenes when Pulikesi is in the prison. Bottom line - If you are expecting a laugh riot like the Kamal - Crazy Mohan movies, you might be disappointed. But if you go in with no such expectations, you will thoroughly enjoy it, like I did. Truly hilarious. Now, time to look forward to Veyil.
posted by Filbert at 1:46 PM
9 Comments:
Filbert, I didn't see the movie..but I am also having the same 3 points about the movie.. I wanna see and will comment after that.. But I donno when :-)
And about Imsai, it is not that great when compared to kamal-crazy combo.. I watched PKS on sat, that was too funny than this.. I hope the only thing that attracted in this film, is vadivelu.. bcos of vadivelu as hero, it had a good promo Filbert..
did u watch 'udhiri pookkal' on dvd?
IMO, 'imsai' is the best film of the year so far. very unique, different and totally hilarious...
I thought even in coming up with highly original comedies, Imsai Arasan was good. The one scene I can readily remember is when the imprisoned Pulikesi meets the blacksmith (Manobala). This blacksmith had previously been dismissed from service for making poor quality swords, etc. Upon discovering that he had executed the prison contract also (and hence inferring that the prison gate would be of the same poor quality) the relief on the face of Pulikesi was ultimate. Immensely comic scene.
Good to see that you too have the same memories about Udhiripookkal, Karthik. But I guess you will have to wait until you get back to India, bcos I have searched the Indian stores in many cities here and they do not carry that movie.
Imsai & PKS belong to 2 different genres and so I wouldnt compare them. But if I were to compare the 2, my vote will be for Imsai Arasan.
Yes Balaji, I did see it on DVD. I asked my friend to buy the original DVD when he went to India last time. But audio quality was not too good whereas the viedo was good.
First I was kind of surprised on you picking Imsai Arasan as the best movie of the year. But then when I thought about the other good movies released this year - Dishyum, Pudhupettai, Chithiram Pesuthadi, to name a few - it sure does make sense. I cant wait for your end of the year awards :)
The comedies were no doubt original, Meens and I completely agree with you on the scene you have mentioned, which is one of best scenes of then movie. But somehow most of the comedy scenes in the movie reminded me of the skits you & our guys used to come up with during our college days & hence that observation of how the director could have done a better job.
Ennaku simbhudevan-oda dialogs romba pudichidhu 23m pulikesi-la....esp when vadivelu talks abt the govt employee...and the last 10 kattalai's are super....
Innum udhiri pookal parkala...heard a lot abt it...but ippa paarkara porumai irukumaanu theriyala
Aamaam Bharani, Simbhudevan's dialogues along with Vadivel's rendering of the same were very enjoyable. Udhiripookkal - kandippaa paarkka vendiya padam Bharani. You wont regret watching it.
I am going to take your word on Metti bcos from what I saw (I started watching Metti but didnt get a chance to finish watching it), it did look like a weep-fest. I am curious to know which one do you think is better among the two - Udhiripookkal or Mullum Malarum? :)
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