Misplaced Priorities

On hindsight Kannathil Muthamittaal stands out as one with the most complex and conflicting personal issues of Mani Rathnam films.

A mother who places the interests of her cause to the extent of abandoning her newborn daughter.
A lover who places his ideals ahead of his love.
A daughter who abandons her adopted family in search of her birth parents who had abandoned her at birth.
An idealist who forsakes his safety in lieu of his charges.

And the character that stands out the most is that of Simran's.

The teenage girl who silently yearns for her idealistic neighbour (Madhavan).
Who has her advances rebuffed.
Till the day he proposes, not to be his life partner, but rather to be a mother to his adopted daughter.
She accepts the offer out of her love for him.
Raises the daughter as her own alongwith her own offspring.

Till the day the daughter realizes the truth, forsakes her foster mother in search of her birth mother.

She continues to support her daughter's efforts despite umpteen setbacks and rebuttals.

Only to be rewarded by a consolatory peck on the cheek (A laboured and unconvincing one at that) before the credits roll.

Giving some thought makes one wonder whether such a character would exist in real life.

Highly unlikely.

But a great character and performance.

Aathichudi !

One of the catchiest songs I've heard lately...

We have ignored composer Vijay Anthony for too long. Having come up with above average compositions for about 6 movies in as many years, he shot into prominence with 2008's blockbuster "Kathalil Vizhunthein". Other than the mass pleaser "Nakkumukka" the movie boasted of gems like "Solladi endran idhayam", "Thozhiya en kaathaliya" and "Un thalaimudi kooda". These add to the small, but growing repertoire of excellent compositions such as "Nenjangoottil" (Dishyum), "Nee Kavidhai" (Naan Avanillai) & Sukran.

Now add one more to the list. You may or may not like it, but won't be able to ignore it for sure...

"Aathichudi"

from Taxi No. 4777 *ing Pasupathi & Ajmal

a remake of the Hindi hit Taxi No. 9211 *ing John Abraham & Nana Patekar;

which in turn was based on Changing Lanes *ing Ben Affleck & Samuel L Jackson.

Sung by VA himself, (with Dinesh Kanakaratnam), the song is highly energetic and has been the surprise hit of the year, topping charts despite the movies' so-so performance at the BO. The song blends a mid tempo "Kuthu Beat" with a killer Thumping Bass Break and an infectious Chorus line. The unintelligible lyrics never take themselves seriously, with unflattering digs galore within the song itself. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWvBNpygi6A

The song is more catchy and attention worthy than Nakkumukka. But while the former boasted of equally energetic (& eccentric) choreography, this one falls woefully short on that front. Not starring the lead (Ajmal should've been the obvious choice, isnt it ?) the song stars a some time actor turned choreographer. In contrast to the Kuthu background of the song, the picturisation is on urban youth with dressed up old ladies in ghastly eye shades for company. Even cameos by the singers seem contrived and labored.

Tamil moviedom is coming up with new talent in music directors more often despite the the holy trinity of Rahman, Yuvan & Harris. But none of the new crop seem to have the staying power. Mani Sharma (Pokkiri), Joshua Sridhar (Kathal), James Vasanth (Subramanyapuram), Sundar C Babu (Anjaathey) all showed promise, but little progress and even the talented GV Prakash Kumar too seems to have run out of steam. VA has already proved that he is tenacious enough to stick on. Plus he has an interesting voice... 

Bloody Diamonds !

"Blood Diamond" has generated a lot of interest, on account of its focus on "Conflict Diamonds" - i.e stones from war torn African Nations. It's long been an open secret that most of the rebellions and conflicts in some of these states are the handiwork of diamond cartels and arms dealers. The film symbols an admirable intention by director Edward Zwick (The Siege, Last Samurai) to bring these issues into the mainstream conscience.The Plot (spoilers abound!!)

Solomon Vendy (Djimon Hounsou) is a fisherman of a tribal village in the interior of Sierra Leone. Rebels raid his village capturing him to work in the diamond fields. He comes upon a large diamond and buries it before Government troops attack the rebel stronghold and he is arrested alongwith his erstwhile captors. While in jail, his secret is learnt by Danny Archer (DiCaprio), ex-soldier / Arms & Diamond Dealer. Danny owes money to the Arms merchants and plans that this large stone will settle his debts and leave Africa for good. Danny finally coaxes Solomon to be partners and set out in search of the hidden stone. They are aided in this trip by journalist Maddy Bowen (Jenniffer Connelly) who manages to get the duo through barricades and checkposts posing as fellow journo's. Meanwhile the rebel commander has taken Solomons son under his wings and turns him into a child soldier fuelled high on drugs and aggression. The duo finally manages to retreive the diamond & rescue Solomons son. Danny is fatally injured and chooses to die in his adopted homeland. Solomon and his son escape to the west and with Maddy's help exposes the diamond cartel Van Der Kaap (De Beers?). The film ends with Solomons speech at the UN.

My take
The film touches upon sensitive issues such as diamond mines in war torn Africa, the arms dealers who play both the sides, Child Soldiers kidnapped from home and bred on drugs, alcohol and aggression to sustain the "revolution" as well as a hypocritic West that mouth's inanities while being the major consumer of the end products. However these issues are just skimmed by on the surface, so that we get to know them, but not understand and also does not provide any solutions.

Though nominated for Oscars, both DiCaprio and Honsou fail to impress. For one thing, Leo is too young for the role [though he claims to be 31 in the film, he is actually 33 !!!] for the role of a battle weary soldier which would've suited a middle aged actor more. But lets face it, a Val Kilmer or Billy Bob Thornton wouldn't have the same draw at the BO, right? And Hounsou reprises mannerisms from his earlier films, may it be his debut Amistad or Gladiator. Connelly looks beautiful, and shouldn't be wearing a shirt the way she does, especially in a war zone.
There are quite a few typical hollywood action sequences, which could have been benefitted more if they were hard hitting in the vein of "Saving Private Ryan" or "Platoon".

Great theme and intentions are let down by caricatures i.e; the mercenary with a conscience, the struggling native and the sensitive foreign journalist. Add to the mix a shoddy script with story telling at its formulaic hollywood best, [protagonists bonding over the course of a journey, double crossing superiors etc.] and the film ends up being a mere novelty, nothing pathbreaking or outstanding here.