You can finish that book now Sujatha Sir

Heaven must be overloaded with geniuses by now, especially in the last year or so. Writer Sujatha left a few years ago, creating a void that may not be filled. The triple shockers from the film industry happened next, with Balu, KB and MSV. And now, the man who inspired a nation to make its own missiles, rockets and even atom bombs is no more. Despite the achievements his biggest inspiration was not in science after all. It’s in the minds of the youth of India where Dr.A.P.J. Abdul Kalam sowed the seeds of a better India. In a country as diverse as ours in every sense of word and its people who had given up on the very leaders they had so emphatically voted for power, it needed a miracle man to unite them all in self belief. And along came Kalam. How could a man,  quiet, soft spoken with the most genial smile and all of five feet five with no political background manage to do that? 

As a nation, we have witnessed for the past so many years, two faced leaders who would beg for power and crush the very people who put them there. The problem with diversity and large population is that, any reform that can and should happen almost never happens. Vote bank politics has managed to divide the nation more than what the British ever did. So how did Kalam manage to get through all these barriers? Truth! A man who lives by the very principles he preachers is endangered in this era. Plus, he was clear where his teaching must reach. Not the politically brainwashed seniors and middle age men whose very ambition is family and just that (not that I find fault in that) but it is in the uncluttered minds of the youth is where he found the path to a better India. Which is what made him write books, made him travel all across the country and take up presidency when it was offered. To him it was not a seat of power or a route for personal wealth, like how a certain lady showed later, but a chance to reach out to more people and elevate their minds. Although for the most part, he was nothing more than a glorious final signature, he did manage to stamp his authority in various areas without being public about it. His legacy as a president was not in the documents but the change he made in the minds of people either by his speeches or by his sheer personality (Remember his refusal to shed his locks after he became president!). One look and you know that here is a man I can believe and follow. 

Although I am deeply moved and happy for all the posts that bombarded the whole nation in social media since last evening, I am deeply worried about what is going to happen next. In a time where news reporting is so dramatized and everybody is looking for the next big incident to talk about, are we going to let the memory of this great man slip away from us like any other news? We talk about it for two days frenetically and move on to the next Bollywood controversy. How long before this gets boring? He told us to dream. He himself dreamt of a nation, strong, just and powerful. Are we going to keep dreaming or we going to make his dream and vision come alive? India 2020 is not viable anymore, not at the rate we are travelling. But sooner, rather than later, we can all make it happen. That is what we can do to the man who rejected the idea of family and liaisons just so he can work on his vision. “Unlike the political leaders, we are his heirs.” It is in what we do for our nation and humanity that will make him rest in peace. 

Writer Sujatha, who was a classmate of Dr. Kalam during his St. Joseph’s days, recalls in his memoir “Katradum Petradum” the times he shared with the great man. He recalls how Sujatha and his friends, apart from their studies, would indulge in movies, dramas, cricket and stuff while he was always about work and learning more. He also recalls an incident in the Russian Consulate in New Delhi where Kalam was offered Vodka by the Russians. Unable to refuse the drink as it might seem rude, he accepts the drink, secretly pours all the drink in Sujatha’s glass and poses instead with a glass of water. Needless to say, our writer was not himself that night! They were planning to write books on various topics including the nation and ways to make it a superpower. Now wouldn’t that be a masterpiece! Every time they met to discuss, either of them would become busy with some work or the other. Now, safely aboard in heaven and far away from the magnificent chaos that is India, you can finish that book now Sujatha Sir. Just find a way to drop it on to us.                  

Yennai Arindhal Review

What do you do if you get to direct your favorite hero for the first time? You mix your previous movies into one predictable cocktail and present it straight up, no twist. I may sound a bit cynical but Gautham Vasudev Menon’s Yennai Arinthal with Ajithkumar in the lead did not satisfy the appetite of the fan inside me who craved for this combination for a long time. Let me get one thing straight. It’s not a bad movie. It had its moments sure but I did not go in there to see Anbuselvan IPS lose another Maya and do a Raghavan IPS sort of investigation, get involved in a Major Surya-esque rescue of a child only to lose his own and finally puts another Aradhana-like life in danger to beat yet another Pandiya/Amudhan. Even though Gautham insists that the mix was done knowingly and as insisted by Ajith himself, you come out of the theatre feeling a bit let down by brand GVM.

Brand Ajith however, did not disappoint. You finally get to see the brilliant actor that he is, after Kreedom (Even though my Mallu friends would probably be sharpening their knives by now!). That’s seven long years and it was worth the wait. Ajith has underplayed his image as a mass hero and delivered a soul stirring, near to life performance as an honest cop, a caring father and a passionate lover. You see him crying, searching, yearning and losing which you cannot associate with his brand. Gautham Menon’s movies always show the lead actors in an elevated scale as far as looks are concerned. But what happens when you Ajith in the lead? You vehemently agree with Anushka’s observation as “the most handsome man on earth”.

In recent times it is only for Anushka that I have seen an equal response for a female actor as much as a male actor on screen. But these days you sense that she is simply trying to accommodate a lot of movies in between her two major projects, Bahubali and Rani Rudramma Devi. You can feel the strain in her and it reflects in her performance. So it’s Trisha as Hemanica (How GVM comes up with these names!) who leaves a lasting impression in an extended cameo. To call this as a lifetime role of Arun Vijay is wrong for this wonderfully gifted actor. But he had stood up against a colossus and comes up with a performance that is appreciated by even the most hardcore of Thala fans. The support is a plethora of GVM’s cliched set of actors and you almost end up counting to see all of them made it to this movie too. But thanks be to the good lord for not letting Gautham voice over his villain again.

Dan’s cinematography gives a gloomy and dark feel to an erstwhile Gautham movie and suits the mood of the script perfectly. Harris’ songs, except for the “Unakenna” number, leave a lot to be desired and so is his BGM. It’s a classic case of “What could have been!”

Gautham Vasudev Menon as a director must be applauded for leaving his mark (albeit cliched) while working with a larger than life hero. But then if you can stand out of a Kamal Hassan movie, I don’t see why not. But it’s the script itself that I have problems with. He will convince you that Ajith wanted it to be a G

VM movie and that it’s just another episode in a police officer’s life. I don’t deny that and I think that’s how it should be. But no matter what, I am not entirely convinced with the idea of rehashing all of his old movies. It unfolds as an honest flick with realistic performances that’s sure to go well with the critics. But as a fan of GVM’s direction and Ajith’s acting, my expectations were sky rocketing into something else altogether. It could be down to the fact that the movie just happened out of the blue with him already gone shooting for his movie with Simbu and he had to get a script ready in the last minute to make a movie with an actor he had wanted to work ever since his first movie. The movie did not disappoint for sure and it was refreshing to see Ajith in a performing role but you can’t help but feel a bit let down by the writing despite having Sriram Raghavan and Thyagarajan Kumararaja on board. May be this is only the first chapter of a long and fulfilling partnership. I’d be happy to see Gautham direct a full fledged romantic movie with Ajith in the lead.

As for Yennai Arindhal, well, nothing much to know about it!