Rediscoveries!

Madarasapattinam:While the entire nation was celebrating it's hard fought independence,Madarasapatinam was engaged in an entirely different issue.A love affair.The liberty which our movie directors can take is so refreshingly baffling.The clock in Chennai(or Madarasapattinam) Central as the refuge for a couple on the night of August 15,1947 certainly shows that "creative freedom" is here to stay.After taking a half-baked "Kreedom",Vijay comes up with a "classic romance" set in the mid-1940s.
Inspite of largely inspired parts(An old lady's love,the chain and the separation in boat reminds one of 'Titanic'.The "Why do you want to go to India?" is so like RDB.The wrestling match which results in Britishers taking a step back from Indian land is obviously Lagaanish.Even the climax reminded me of the dumb "Pokisham"),the movie works big time because of amazing technical support.The artwork is so authentic.Suddenly Koovam felt like Thames.The hardwork done in recreating the Chennai of the past shows on the screen.G.V.Prakash uses his uncle's "Lagaan" lessons effectively and comes up with a stirring score."Pookal pookum" is absolute bliss.
The scriptwriting is equally fantastic in the first half.The "marandhutiya?" part is so poetic.Each and every character is so beautifully etched from the "service charge" guy to Amy Jackson.Our own Tamil heroines can take lessons from Amy in mouthing Tamil lines.After such a heady first half which enthralls and tickles(Haneefa's last movie.His dedicated high-octane acting will be missed) us in equal measure,the second half drags too long.The chase scene is unnecessarily long and feels like "Jayam" shot on 15.8.1947.The "Duraiammal Trust" scenes are largely contrived.
Inspite of such hiccups,"Madarasapattinam" is a movie to be celebrated.It was very much about Aarya's love but also helps us rediscover a beautiful past.A beautiful Chennai.It makes us to start loving Chennai again.

Kalavaani:"Kalavaani" is rediscovery of another kind.Another past.Those languid 1980s when village-based movies were not necessarily gory affairs.When all was fun and "arivaals" were nowhere to be seen.Sargunam's brilliant scriptwriting combined with humour-laced dialogues see the movie through.The following scenes particularly deserve special mention:
1.Brilliant is too ineffective a word to describe the scene where Ilavarasu comes to know his son's love.
2.The "record dance" scene brings alive a typical village festival on screen.While other directors would have resorted to an item number(Even Maniratnam is not an exception),Sargunam has supposedly hired an original "record dance" group to recreate the magic on screen.
3.All scenes involving "Kanja" Karuppu are hilarious.It surprises me that we are able to laugh out loud when a person is so perpetually embarrassed through out the movie(From the days of Goundamani-Senthil).It is either the actor's talent or our perverted mindsets that is responsible.
The protagonist "Arikki" is one of the most beautifully portrayed characters in recent times.He steals fertiliser bags meant for the cooperative society,he drinks away the money hard-earned by a dad in Dubai,he bribes to clear his twelfth standard exams,he kidnaps a girl for no reason other than he is inebriated,he keeps coming up with plans to annoy a respectable family man for no reason,he has no respect whatsoever for a sister(another beautiful character) who keeps doting on him,he steals dresses meant for his sister,he keeps saying to every girl he sees "enna kattiko"-yet we completely fall in love with him."Arikki" is an interesting achievement in modern tamil cinema.
Thus Sargunam does a Bhagyaraj and in times when even Bhagyaraj is unable to do a Bhagyaraj,"Kalavaani" is a masterpiece in it's own right.